Sweeping The Sensational Set
by Ally147
Summary: A disenchanted Gary Oak looks to unlock the ultimate achievement of sweeping the elusive 'Sensational Set' by bedding all four Waterflower sisters, but fate has something else in mind for the notorious philanderer and his stubborn final target. Rated for language, adult themes and content and violence. EgoShipping. GaryxMisty
1. Prologue

Hello everyone! It is lovely to meet you all. This is my very first fanfic so I want you all to go easy on me, keeping in mind that I have no formal training and that I'm simply doing this for entertainments' sake.  
This right here is an egoshipping fic, meaning I'm whacking together Misty and Gary. I don't give a toss if you don't like the pairing, so please don't flame me if that is what has your panties in a bunch. You don't have to be here.

Shippings include: Egoshipping, one-sided Orangeshipping, Eldershipping, mentions of Pokeshipping and implied Advanceshipping.

Rated M for language, adult situations and other stuff down the line we don't need to worry about now.

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Prologue

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Once Gary Oak had set his mind to something, there was very little anyone could do or say to convince him otherwise.

He sat silently in his cherry red convertible, preparing himself for the task at hand. He knew it was going to be a challenge but damn it all, he was going to win! Of course he would! He always won. No one could say no to Gary Oak.

He had come to his conclusion a week ago while visiting his grandfather in Pallet Town. Samuel Oak had only a month prior married Delia Ketchum after an impossibly long courtship beginning not too long after Gary first left Pallet Town on his Pokemon journey. Gary had been unable to attend the wedding itself due to research commitments in Sinnoh but now that he finally had some time off he was able to visit and offer his congratulations (and mercilessly tease where necessary) in person. Even though the idea of now having to consider his lifelong rival Ash Ketchum family sickened him to his very core, he was very fond of Delia, a woman who often served as a temporary mother figure to Gary when he was a child.

Maybe it was the lack of a permanent mother that drove Gary to become who he was now; an arrogant, cocky, albeit incredibly intelligent, confident and charming serial womanizer and narcissist with a personal reputation about as far removed as possible from his professional reputation. Despite this, Gary still managed to have a different woman hanging from his arm each week. These women all knew exactly what was going to happen to them and yet each believed they were going to be the one to finally 'tame' Gary Oak. They all threw themselves at him and Gary, being who he was, did very little to discourage them, though he knew most these women would likely pay him for the pleasure of his company. Gary rarely liked these women, knowing full well that their eyes all but flashed with cartoonish dollar signs whenever they so much as glanced his way, much less had he ever felt anything remotely close to love for any of them. In many ways these women left him feeling quite hollow, and even a little sad inside. Gary enjoyed these encounters in the physical sense, and enjoyed having the attention on him but emotionally it left him feeling drained. He knew that these encounters were a part of him now and despite any regrets he may have there was nothing that could be done about it now.

And he wasn't exactly prepared to stop.

This attention seeking serial flirt was not a side of himself he wanted to show his family. He had intended to leave all traces of that persona back in Sinnoh, in his house, in his bedroom, in that drawer filled to excess with condoms where it belonged. While they never spoke of it, Gary knew that his grandfather was disappointed in his actions and often felt something akin to shame knowing that the elder Oak probably heard more than he cared to know about his grandsons' exploits. He knew the professor wished only for him to be happy, and Gary hoped one day he would be.

Despite his many and varied personal flaws, Gary was highly commended as a dedicated worker and world class researcher on a par with his grandfather and as such, it had left him very well off financially which was a good thing for Gary since he wouldn't have access to the sizeable trust fund his parents left him until he turned 25. His work on water temperatures and salinity affecting the size and colour of water Pokemon was fast becoming groundbreaking work, with his original research matter becoming an unintentional gateway for further discoveries.

Regardless of his own rather warped views on relationships (one night, no breakfast and for the love of God, please don't talk too much, or at all really), he was convinced this marriage was a good thing and didn't hesitate to shower his congratulations over the newlyweds the second he walked back through the ever familiar doors of his childhood home.

**FLASHBACK, ONE WEEK EARLIER**

_Gary stood in front of his old childhood home and drew a deep breath. He hadn't been back in Pallet Town for six years when he had announced his intention to quit training and become a researcher and for some inexplicable reason, he felt nervous. This was new. There was actually sweat beading on his neck. Gary was not at all used to feeling this nervous. 'Outrageously confident to the point of being offensively arrogant__' was his default state__. It was what gave him the ability to command the attention of a room when giving a speech. It was what allowed him to follow his passion and what bought him the status he had today. So why the hell did the prospect of walking the corridors of the Oak Mansion and seeing his family once more daunt him so? Gary didn't have time to while away thinking on such things; self-introspection would definitely have to wait for the time being. Instead he drew a deep breath and knocked on the door, and waited. Gary actually began to fiddle with his hair and shuffle slightly on the spot_. Is this a nervous tic or something? What the hell is going on with me?_ He wondered._ Calm the fuck down!

_After a few more uneventful moments, the door swung open, and Gary was looking at the elated face of his Grandfather once more. They stared at each other for a moment before Gary grinned and moved to grab the older man in a massive bear hug. He hadn't seen the man look so young in years. Newlywed life was obviously doing all kinds of good. _

_"How are you old man? I am so sorry I wasn't here for the wedding, but congratulations to both of you". _

_Professor Oak laughed and hugged Gary back just as tightly. "Gary, I understand. You were busy, but you're here now and that's all that matters"._

_Both men pulled back with big smiles on their faces, obviously very pleased to see each other again. It was then that Gary noticed that Delia was standing a little further down the hallway, trying not to interrupt the small reunion. After a few moments she walked towards the pair with her hand extended. Gary looked at her before another smile lit up his face. He lightly batted her hand away and caught her in a hug also. "So, do I call you grandma now or what?" he asked jokingly._

_"Nothing of the sort Gary, I'm not that old, after all" she shot an affectionate glace towards her new husband who just rolled his eyes in response. "Call me Delia, please" she replied warmly before breaking the hug and continuing down the hall to the kitchen. It was only then that Gary noticed the delicious smell of dinner wafting down the hall. He hadn't even noticed how hungry he was._

_Gary stood in place for a moment, taking in the now very different walls of his old home. He wandered further down the hall to the living room. Expectedly, Delia had made a few changes. Scratch that, she had made a lot of changes. The walls were now painted a soft cherry blossom pink. A creamy coloured leather sofa replaced the moth eaten green monstrosity of his childhood. There were throw pillows everywhere _(seriously, _he thought,_ what the hell is it with women and throw pillows?). _A glass coffee table took up much of the room and at its centre stood a large vase filled with a large bunch of roses in varying shades of pink. Gary took in these new surroundings and observed that it was a huge improvement, although perhaps a little too girly for his personal tastes. The Oak mansion was for too long occupied by men alone, it needed a woman's' touch._

_During dinner, conversation turned to the expected topics; the wedding, Gary's research, his grandfather's research, Ash, Pokemon, and was peppered with random small talk. Gary had been working in solitude for the better part of a year with fairly minimal contact with others, excluding lackeys at the lab and whoever was his woman de jour, and was only too happy to jump into the conversation. _

_After dinner the three of them went back to the living room to relax and unwind before bed__.__ As expected, the pillows fell to the floor to make room for the three. _What the hell was the damn point then?_ It was then that Gary noticed the spread of photographs across the back wall. He looked at them from where he sat. There were many photos of him and his older sister May who was long since married and living in Celadon with her husband and sons, pictures from the wedding, a few different photos of various Pokemon on the nearby ranch, even a picture of Gary when he accepted his junior professor status at a banquet held in his honour. Gary's eyes roamed over each picture, eventually falling to a picture of Ash with his arm around a strikingly beautiful red headed girl with stunning blue green eyes and creamy, pale skin. His own forest green eyes widened. _Since frickin' when was Ashy Boy able to reel in the babes? _He though with something akin to bitterness. He couldn't shake the feeling that he knew her somehow, but didn't know how or why he might. "Delia, who's the girl in this picture with Ash?" he managed to ask all the while racking his brain. Surely he wouldn't be able to forget a girl who looked like THAT!_

_"You don't recognize her?" Gary simply shook he head slowly. "That's Misty Waterflower". _

_At the mention of the Waterflower name Gary raised his eyebrows. "She's the Cerulean City Gym Leader and one of Ash's best friends. I thought you knew her, dear, she was always with Ash when they were kids". "Yeah, I knew her when she looked like THIS" Gary gestured to another, similarly posed photo of Ash and Misty with Brock that he guessed had been taken about ten years prior. Misty had been somewhat tall for her age and was gangly and awkward as a child. "Never did I think she would grow up to be so gorgeous". He couldn't have stopped the words from pouring out his mouth if he tried. Thankfully Delia, the saint that she was, didn't say anything and merely smiled at him and agreed "She certainly did grow out of that awkward stage. I only wish she and Ash had been able to work out. She would have made a lovely daughter-in-law". At this little revelation Gary spun around, tearing his eyes away from the picture unwillingly._

_"You mean they dated?" Gary's jaw dropped._

_"Yes, but not anymore dear. They broke up a few months ago, and then Ash left to try the Hoenn League again"._

_Gary tried not to look relieved as he let out a low sigh. He wouldn't have to deal with Ash just yet. Dealing with him grated Gary's nerves and he wasn't ready to acknowledge that they were now brothers…or cousins or something. _Oh, fuck. Ash is my uncle. _Gary quickly shook off the very disturbing thought. "What happened between them?" he asked, trying his best to sound casual and not too interested._

_Delia sighed. "They said that in some ways they felt obligated to give a relationship a try given how close they were as children__.__ It worked for a while, but in the end they said it didn't feel right. They're still best friends though; I don't think either of them harbours any bad feelings over it"._

_Gary simply nodded in response and looked back to the picture. _

_"She's single, right?"_

_"Gary, what are you planning?" Professor Oak asked wearily having finally found his voice. _

_"Nothing at all, Gramps" although the wicked smile on Gary's face betrayed him._

_"Don't you think you might have done enough to those girls? Really, leave Misty alone". At those words Delia's ears perked up. Exactly what did that mean?_

_Gary simply continued to smile, "Fine, have it your way. I'm sure I'll see her at some point anyway". With that Gary stood up and stretched. It had been a long flight from the lab he was at in Sinnoh back to the airport in Viridian City and on top of the journey back to Pallet, he was damn tired. He bade goodnight to his grandfather, who was still eyeing him strangely, and Delia who smiled and stood up to place a motherly kiss on his cheek. Gary then climbed the stairs and headed to his room, although curiosity made him take a quick detour._

_Opening the door of the master bedroom, Gary saw it too had been repainted pink and decorated with entirely new furniture and paintings. And more stupid pillows. _You old sap,_ he thought with a small grin, closing the door and making his way to his own room which he was very pleased to see had been left unchanged. He quickly stripped down to his dark green boxer shorts and threw himself atop his bed. Gary slowly breathed in and out, relaxing himself before his thoughts drifted back to one Misty Waterflower. He chuckled quietly to himself. Very few girls, if any really, ever came to occupy his thoughts at night._

_He tried to remember when he last saw her in person, but could not come up with the memory. Admittedly he never paid much attention to Misty, or any of Ash's other random hangers' on over the years so it wasn't too shocking that his memory might be hazy when it came to this. Seeing the photograph of Misty tonight made him wish that maybe he had paid attention back when it mattered. She could now rival her sisters in terms of looks, though she had always been able to better them as far as intelligence, common sense and battling was concerned. _

_In the past times he had spent in the company of the other three Waterflower sisters, he had been struck by how incredibly airheaded and, for lack of a nicer word, stupid they were. In fact, Daisy Waterflower, the eldest of the four, was one of the most alarmingly stupid women he had ever come across. Denseness he could tolerate, but not to the point Daisy took it to. Gary felt there should be a quota on just how many times a person should be allowed to utter the word 'like' in a day, and not in the 'I like potatoes' sense, but in the 'like, did you hear, like, Amber, like, trimmed her like, bangs, like like like?' sense. Seriously, Misty was a goddamn genius compared to her sisters, even if the last time he may or may not have strung together more than 5 words in her direction to which she may or may not have even replied was over 10 years ago!_

_But she was beautiful, that he was now very, very aware of. He wondered if she still possessed that legendary temper of hers. Gym Leaders were a gossipy group, and the stories that were told of Misty, even if he didn't pay a whole lot of attention to them at the time, painted her as a ruthless, fire-breathing (or water spraying) dragon who had propelled the Cerulean Gym to new heights and gained notoriety as being one of the hardest Gym Leaders to beat with beginning trainers often being told to maybe just skip this one, wait until you have a few badges under your belt and maybe you can come back and have a go. Luckily there were in fact twelve league certified Gyms in Kanto so there were other opportunities to make up the eight badges required for participation in the Indigo League Championships if you decided to forgo battling Misty._

_Gary was becoming more tired by the second. Thoughts of Misty were taking their toll. He quickly resolved to quickly go to sleep and devise a plan of attack the following morning._

_Little did he know, the fates were planning this out for him right now, though probably not in a way that would overly impress him._

_A week passed by quickly and uneventfully. Gary had been much busier than he had expected helping Professor Oak in the lab with the much finer points of his research that he wasn't able to count on his assistants to understand, much less carry out. Gary hadn't been able to put as much thought into his plans as he would have liked._

_Gary awoke the next day feeling completely refreshed. A feeling he wasn't used to anymore after experiencing the stresses associated his chosen occupation as well as his choice of extracurricular activities. He went to the bathroom and splashed his handsome face with cold water before pulling a grey t-shirt over his head and making his way downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. He pulled out a box of cereal from the cupboard and poured himself a bowl and walked carefully to the dining room table. At the opposite end sat Tracey Sketchit who was having a rather heated conversation with someone on his phone._

_Tracey was Professor Oaks' lab assistant and a close personal friend of Misty, and often visited the Cerulean Gym to perform handyman duties and generally help out. Daisy, Violet and Lily successfully toured the various regions performing water ballets (where they were, by the grace of God, unable to speak and therefore unable to render the entire population of any one arena fully capable of performing a triple murder/suicide). This however left Misty all alone. Running the Gym and battling challengers on top of the maintenance of the Pokemon, pools and building itself proved too much for her to handle. This was the topic of Tracey's conversation._

"_You know if you closed the Gym one measly day a week you might actually have the time to cross some of these tasks of your lists yourself…" _

_"Misty, I'm telling you, there is no way I can come over today..."_

_"Are you certain you can't fix them yourself? I'm sure I've shown you how..."_

_"Come on, it's not hard, and you aren't that big a moron..."_

_"OK, OK, I'm sorry, just please stop yelling like that. You're a lady, for God's sake..."_

_"But I told you I can't be there. I have somewhere to be Misty, please..."_

_It was at this point that Gary walked into the room and plonked himself down on the chair, eyeing Tracey with great interest, stirring his cereal rather absently._

_"What does she want, Tracey?" _

_Tracey looked over and quickly put a hand other the mouthpiece to reply. "She says the pool pumps are broken, all of them, again. How she managed it I'll never know" with this he rolled his eyes and went back to listening to Misty yell some more. Gary frowned slightly. Broken pool pumps? Not exactly what he had in mind. Still, Gary knew a way in when he saw one. A smug smile broke out on his face. Thankfully Tracey had his hands too full to notice._

_"I can fix them"_

_Tracey put his hand over his phone again. "What did you say?"_

_"I said, I can fix the pumps"_

_"Seriously?"_

Yes seriously, you giant tool. _"Yeah, when I was off doing my research I had heaps of tanks I needed to maintain, I'm pretty sure I can fix her pumps". Gary snickered like a twelve year old inwardly as he wondered if it was just him who thought that sounded like a double entendre._

_"Are you sure? She's a little bit..." Tracey held the phone out towards him. Gary could hear her screams on the other side of the room. He winced slightly._

_"Yeah, I can do it. Tell her I'll be around later today". He casually continued to munch on his cereal._

_Tracey repeated this into the receiver. Even Gary could tell that the other end of the line was deadly silent. He wondered just how much Misty knew about his history with her sisters._

_"She says, and these are her words, no fucking way"_

_Gary smirked at that. "Well, if you won't go, then I'm her only choice. Tell her I'll be there because I'm concerned about her pools and the health of her Pokemon should they go unrepaired"_

Among other things, _he thought to himself._

_Tracey repeated this into the phone. Gary heard a few choice words from the other end of the line and laughed._

_"She says fine, but you better be damn fast. She says she doesn't want you in her house any longer than you need to be"_

_Gary smirked at this. "Tell her not to worry"_

_Tracey said his goodbyes to Misty, reassuring her that Gary would be in and out as quickly as possible, then hung up with a sigh of relief. Tracey moved to leave the room, but Gary stopped him. "I know for a fact that you have a thumping crush on Misty__" Tracey moved to deny that statement but Gary beat him to it__.__"__You don't go around giving adorable baby Pokemon to girls you feel nothing for so don't even try to deny it__.__ What are your super important plans that you'd blow her off anyway?"_

_Tracey blushed slightly and drew a deep breath, "There are none. I'd just sooner chew glass than go back there right now. I'm guessing something happened because Misty has been acting worse lately, and I really just don't want to be there at the moment. I don't know what happened to her since she refused to talk about it when I finally decided to ask what was up, but she is much more scary than usual lately. Even to me and we've been good friends for years. Good luck Gary. You, more than any other man on the planet right now, are going to need it"._

_Tracey left the room in a bit of a hurry, leaving Gary to contemplate his words. Tracey made it sound like she would be out for his blood, and if she knew the story behind him and her sisters, she may just be._

_Gary simply shrugged this off. He knew from the brief times he allowed her sisters to talk before regretting it immediately that they didn't get along particularly well with their youngest sister and probably wouldn't engage in whatever the female equivalent of locker room talk was with her. Plus Tracey said that Misty seemed inexplicably pissed at him also, which didn't make a whole lot of sense._

_Despite all his bravado, Gary couldn't help but feel that he might end up regretting volunteering his services, but the thought of completing what he was setting out to do out-weighed his doubts. Finishing his cereal, Gary smiled. Today was going to be very, very interesting._

**END OF FLASHBACK**

That is how Gary came to be sitting in his car out front of the Cerulean Gym, the same as it looked all those years ago when he himself had come looking to obtain the Cascade Badge (which he won, of course. It was Daisy he had faced after all). Gary got out of the car slowly, with an odd combination of excitement and dread coursing through his veins.

He moved to the backseat and retrieved Tracey's bag of tools and equipment he may need for the repairs and walked with purpose to the front door of the Gym and knocked three times, and waited.

After a few moments the door opened and Gary found himself face to face with Misty Waterflower, who was glaring at him. If looks could kill, indeed. A confident smirk played itself over his lips.

_Time to bag the Sensational Set._

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**AN**: I'm aware that Gary's character is a little jumbled, but I wasn't going to have him act like a sex-crazed party boy with Professor Oak and Delia! That would just be wrong! We'll see more of that smug, arrogant Gary we all know and love next chapter!

I hope I've set the story up well, and I do hope you enjoyed it. I'd appreciate a review since this is my first fanfic and I'd like to gauge how it's being received. Any and all constructive criticism, ideas, recipes, whatever will be taken on board but no flames please, I don't give a crap if you don't like this story for your own petty reasons. I'll be hoping to update weekly (oh the joys of being between jobs!) if I'm able to, since I can crank out a chapter in a day, but then spend the following week gripped by self-doubt that causes me to rewrite most of it! But a week to 10 days should be all the waiting time you should expect.

I should also mention the inspiration for the story. I came from another fic on here called 'I Thought I Saw a Rainbow' by Virgo Writer. There was a line in it where Brock says to Gary that the only reason he wants to whisk Misty away from Ash is because he wants the elusive Sensational Set, to bed all four Waterflower sisters. I thought this idea would make an interesting story, although it's going to be difficult to get the story to where I want it to be and to make Gary even a little likeable with this as his endgame. As I said though, I have a plan, I just hope it'll play out the way I'm hoping it will!


	2. Chapter 1: Heads?

Hello to all again! Thanks to everyone for such a positive response to the prologue! I come bearing the latest chapter. This and the next chapter are presented as two sides of the same story, the first being written from Gary's point of view, and the second from Misty's. They will also be written as a first person narrative.

One thing I should also explain, the genres. I've said humour and romance because eventually they will be the predominant genres. I hope that there is _someone_ out there who understands and appreciates my off sense of humour, and the romance won't be until a fair way down the line. It'd be nice if I could have stuck it in four categories to cover all the planned bases, but whatever. So if anyone was wondering, I know the genres (and the rating!) are very generous at the moment, but keep in mind I have this all planned out!

**DISCLAIMER**: It also occurred to me that I should point out the incredibly obvious and mention that I don't own Pokemon, though I do own a lot of Pokemon stuff. Not enough to give me a stake in the company, but a lot more than a chick my age should own…

This chapter is dedicated to 'jigglypuff', my first reviewer! Thank you, you are awesome, have a cyber cookie!

"Sweeping the Sensational Set"

Chapter One: 'Heads…?'

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Holy freakin' wow.

Fuck.

Photos do not do Misty Waterflower justice at all.

I know I'm smirking, but it's forcibly plastered on my face. It's really all I can do to stop my jaw dropping to the floor. She's hot, she's gorgeous, she's all of the good things. I'll admit it, I'm kind of shocked. It's a new feeling for me. I seem to be having a lot of new feelings lately.

If I thought she was beautiful in the photo, you can imagine my surprise to see her in person. Misty's beauty was on an entirely different level to any other woman I had been with. Her hair is now a gorgeous shade of silky, fiery copper, no longer the bright orange colour of her childhood. Her blue eyes are blazing, sparkling even, bringing out the green hidden in their depths. Her skin is a milky white, creamy almost, and is free of blemishes, save for a long scar running almost the entire length of her lower leg which I must admit has me curious. Dressed simply in floaty blue shirt and denim cutoffs and free of jewelry, her sexy, slender body honed by years of swimming is clear to see. She is definitely every inch a Sensational Sister now, and we all know that the Sensational Sisters can't resist me.

Though I may have been wrong before. Maybe.

I'm surprised she remembers me, though it's not outrageous to think that maybe Ashy Boy continued to slander my name in her presence while they were together. He was always a little vindictive and, let's get it out in the open now, jealous when it came to me. Let's face it though; I was better. Still am. Everyone knows that. While Misty and I may not have ever really interacted directly in the past, she was there for every little tiff and spat between Ash and myself as kids from age 10 up until we were 14. No doubt she would have formulated a less than desirable opinion of me, with or without the knowledge of me and her sisters behind it.

That sort of sucks. And it's rude, even. I didn't go off making half-assed assumptions about her.

Well, not a whole lot anyway.

After what felt like an eternity of shooting each other looks in the doorway (I reckon if she focused hard enough she might be able to shoot a laser beam from her eyes to vaporize me, she looks that intense!), she finally stood the side to allow me to walk in and led me into the Gym in silence. She didn't take her eyes off me, which was mildly unnerving. None of this feels right so far. I wonder if I'm right to be worried. I expected outright hostility. I expected her to have read me my rights and yell and scream at me until I shared her desire to have me thrown from the bridge over Cerulean Cape into the ocean if only to experience sweet silence once more. I did not expect for her to simply give me the most evil glare she could muster while she pointed in the direction of the closest of her broken pumps before walking down the hall and out of sight. Now my jaw has dropped. What the fuck was that about? Where was the woman who was yelling profanities over the phone, adamant that I should not be allowed within ten meters of the Cerulean City limits? Did she drown? Did her Gyarados eat her? Was I just in the company of some sort of terrifying imposter robot Misty? Granted, I don't know this girl very well yet, but this isn't right, right?

I am thrown by this girl. 98% of the straight female population wants me, and the other 2% don't know they want me yet. This isn't so much arrogance but a statement of fact. It's really all I can do to have a moment of solitude. Misty Waterflower is the first girl not to fall at my feel begging to go a few rounds in bed, or at least to come up with some flimsy pretext of an excuse to spend time with me. I'm not exactly sure how to act around a girl who has given me the brush off. I am even less sure about how to act around a girl who has walked away before giving me time to react to said brush off!

And yes, I am very aware that I'm acting like a petulant two year old that can't have the toy he wants.

I set about my task, not happily I have to add. I'm still a little miffed she didn't even see fit to even utter a 'hello' or a 'how's it going' or a 'fuck off out of my Gym'. Anything would have been fine. Anything would have been better than to have been completely and utterly ignored.

Pulling out the tools Tracey loaned me (or rather I took them, but who's keeping track? He took his notebook and swanned off without a care in the world. Sneaky bastard) I begin to pull apart the closest pump and began to make the necessary repairs. I have fixed more pool pumps than I care to count. And Misty has eight others in the Gym alone. All broken. Fuck. What on earth had possessed me to give away my Saturday anyway?

Oh right, I remember now.

Six years ago it was Daisy, three it was Violet, and two it was Lily. Incidentally, it was Daisy who took my virginity when I was 16, but that is another story for another time. I must have been a glutton for punishment. I knew those three were similar, and yet when they threw themselves at me at each respective occasion, I just went with it. A few years ago I heard of some men dabbling in 'Waterflower Bingo', but I always thought 'Sweeping the Sensational Set' had a better ring to it, and was maybe a little less demeaning. In all that time, I have not heard of a soul who has had the privilege of yelling out 'BINGO' at the top of their lungs. Shockingly, no one ever took into account that little Misty Waterflower would in no way take after her sisters. Most men took the hat trick, three for three and ran with it. I won't deny that I'm attracted to Misty despite that Ice Queen façade she seems so determined to keep up, but a full sweep would mean...I'm not too sure what it would mean, but it's something I think I need.

She's not going to make it easy though.

I stopped my repairs after fixing five of the eight broken pumps. I'm hungry. I think I deserve a break now. I looked around, trying to find a kitchen, a fridge, a veggie patch, something with food! It was only then that I took any real notice of the Gym. It was essentially the same Gym I had come to twelve years ago. There had been a new coat of paint, expansions to the arena, even the addition of an ice pool for the dual water/ice type Pokemon at the Gym. I must have been a little out of it, delirious with hunger probably, taking the area in from every angle as I was, as not two seconds later I manage to pull what might qualify as the most embarrassing move in history. I stepped too far backward; flailing in what I can only assume was a completely ridiculous manner, very unbecoming for someone like me, landing with a huge splash in the pool. "SON OF A BITCH, THAT'S COLD!" I couldn't help that slipping out, honest_. _Well, so long iPhone. Quick question, you know that feeling when you have one of those weird spaz attacks in bed where you're half asleep and all of a sudden you twitch like a maniac because it feels like you're falling down a flight of stairs? You know it's impossible that anyone saw you, yet you feel yourself blush like crazy anyway? That's what I was feeling while standing in the water looking like a complete fool, stripping off my shirt, 'cause you know, why not? I'm frickin' soaked anyway. Might as well undress for the occasion.

Plus it now appears that I have an audience.

A tall, blue-haired girl, around the same age as me walked slowly to the edge of the pool, doing absolutely nothing to hide the smile on her face. I've seen that look. I'd know it anywhere. I'll probably see it another dozen times before the night is over. This chick, she wants me. Wants me BAD! It strikes me though that I have absolutely no idea who she is, or why she'd have any business at the Gym at all. Maybe she's here for a battle. Maybe she's a cleaner. Maybe she's Misty's girlfriend. Maybe she's selling Girl Scout cookies. Maybe I should stop coming up with stupid theories and actually find out. I flash my very best smile and slowly move my wet bangs from around my eyes. I've been told it looks sexy when I'm dry. I can only imagine how it looks for the ladies when I'm wet.

"Pardon me gorgeous, but who are you?" Cue the instantaneous and uncontrollable blushing. I must look good.

"M-my name i-is Marina" And she stutters too. Adorable.

"And what, Marina, is a pretty thing like you doing here?" I would get out of the water, but she seems to enjoy the view. My good deed for the day.

"I'm h-here to see Misty. Is she a-around?"

As if told by the Gods themselves that her presence was needed, Misty came sauntering around the hallway and back into the pool area. She shoots me a weird look, a strange combination of 'get out of my pool', 'what are you doing in my pool?', 'where the hell is your shirt?', and, though I could be wrong, the faintest trace of 'can I please join you in the pool?' I shoot her the trademark Oak smirk that had made a million women before her swoon and wink. She only raised an eyebrow, turning to focus on Marina. Still nothing. Damn.

"Marina, he's not even worth the air my Magikarp can't breathe" Ouch. "Besides, we made plans."

Marina looked like she couldn't care less about their plans. In fact, she looked like she'd be perfectly happy to pull up a chair and watch me swim laps. She's still staring at me, quite intently. What, never seen a hot shirtless guy in a pool before? I sent her the smirk that failed miserably on Misty and watched her as she melted into a puddle before my eyes. Not literally, of course.

"Marina?" Misty snapped her fingers in front of her face. Marina's still staring at me. Unashamedly. Drink it in, ladies. "Marina?" Still not working. I seem to have caused Marina to drift into a trance-like state. "MARINA?" Much more loudly this time. Still nothing. Maybe I broke her?

"Marina…" Maybe my sexy whisper will snap her out of it.

"Yes…?" She's still in a daze. That's to be expected. I'm very good at what I do.

I point over to Misty, who is by now red as a beet in anger. So that's where she was hiding herself! So I only have to hit on her friends to get a reaction out of her! I laughed at her, only to be silenced by a look that can only be described as being learned from Death itself. Normally I wouldn't be intimidated, but I'm not sure what else to expect from this woman, and I'm not convinced she knows either. Marina followed my finger like I was pointing towards the Holy Grail, and noticed the state Misty was in. She gasped. That snapped her out of it!

"Misty, what's wrong?" Yeah Misty, exactly what is wrong?

Misty didn't say another word. She simply grabbed Marina by the arm, a little roughly I might add, gave me another weird look like the one when she saw me in the pool to begin with (maybe I'm crazy, but 'can I please join you in the pool?' seems to be dominating this time!), and dragged her back down the hallway she disappeared down in the first place. Marina glances back at me making my way out of the pool. She stares at me as she allows Misty to drag her. "Bye Marina" I call out in my most seductive tone. I'm pretty sure I see her knees buckle. She waves back, looking like an absolute tool, as most women do when presented with an attractive guy who pays attention to them, before disappearing entirely.

Well, that was fun!

I'm not at all interested in Marina, but the look on Misty's face was absolutely priceless, I just had to play with her! I enjoy flirting with women. It makes them feel good, and it makes me feel good and for some reason, I need all I can to feel good these days. It's been so hard to feel good about myself and when I do, the moment is too fleeting. I need more. I need a lot more.

A few minutes later, Misty makes another grand entrance. She's clutching a fluffy towel which she holds out to me. I, being more than a little surprised at the sudden hospitality being offered, gape at her. Another new feeling. Shit. I don't gape at women, they're all annoyingly predictable. Misty however, is coming at me from all angles. Silence treatment-ing my head into the ground one minute.

"Are you going to take the towel, Gary?"

And offering me fluffy towels the next.

I grab the towel from her and begin to dry my hair.

I hear her sigh, it sounds like exasperation but there's something underneath. "Do you want to take a hot shower?"

HELL FUCKING YES I WANT A HOT SHOWER! YOUR STUPID POOL IS FREEZING! I mean "Yeah, thanks. That'd be great"

Misty beckoned me to follow her down the hall, leading me towards the bathroom. She stopped in front of a door and opened it for me, motioning for me to step inside. She didn't move. "So…" I began, "You going to join me or what?"

"Ugh, please Gary, don't start" She seems tired, but there's something else there. Maybe this is what Tracey had been talking about when he said Misty had been acting weird. I would have expected the excessively angry kind of weird like she had been over the phone, though I suppose to Tracey this oddly silent display would have been scary. I can't shake the feeling that maybe this is all for me, though.

"Fine, I'll stop teasing. For now, anyway" I smirked at her and moved closer. Again, not much of a reaction. What is up with this girl? "What about my clothes? You wouldn't have guy's clothes here, and I can't very well go back to Pallet and get something new to wear, and my stuff won't dry for ages, and as much as I know you and your friend would love it, I can't parade around wearing nothing but towel. What's it gonna be, Red?" I can feel her breath against my neck. I glance down and -

Why is Misty smirking at me? That shit is dangerous. She proceeds to put a hand to my chest and firmly pushes me into the bathroom and closes the door before continuing on. I try to ignore that her hand was incredibly soft and warm against my skin. Thoughts like that I really don't need.

"Oh, don't worry about that Gary" her tone is like saccharine. Sweet, but so incredibly fake. And I'm pretty sure it could give you cancer in high enough doses too. I'm almost nervous to hear what's coming next. "With any luck, we'll still have the clothes you left here last time you skipped out after spending the night here screwing my sister"

Well, that is a possibility. I mean, I did jump out the window at 3am wearing nothing at all, clutching my boxers to my -

Wait, WHAT?

**XXXXXXXXXX**

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**AN:** The Marina character is meant to be the water Pokemon trainer from the episode 'Bye Bye Psyduck'. The chick who tells Misty that her Psyduck will evolve because it's tail is glowing. I didn't want to use one of the main female characters here.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! It took me bloody ages to get it to a point where I thought it was fit to post, and even now I'm not totally convinced. It ended up much shorter than I would have liked. The next one is what was happening parallel with this one, told from Misty's point of view, and it should be up before Christmas. See you then!


	3. Chapter 2: Or Tails?

Yay, the world didn't end! To celebrate, here is the newest chapter! As I said before, this is what was happening parallel to the last chapter, told from Misty's POV. And it's much longer than the last one too! Without further ado, let's go!

**DISCLAIMER**: Still don't own Pokemon! Could you imagine how epic it would be if I did, though?

Anything in _italics _is a flashback.

"Sweeping the Sensational Set"

Chapter 2: '…Or Tails?'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Oh Arceus no.

This will not do.

It would have been so perfect. I've been so pissed off lately that I could have let it all out on some guy I barely knew. This would have been so much easier had he been some short, balding, effeminate man with no sex appeal whatsoever but NO! Gary Oak just had to be frickin' sex on legs, didn't he? Stupid Tracey, no fair warning...

And I get to make a complete fool of myself, don't I? Opening the door, and so ensues the silent staring match of the century. Not quite what I had in mind, but my mouth suddenly feels dry and I can't seem to form words right now.

He still has those tall, cinnamon hued spikes and those gorgeous deep green eyes that sparkle with childish mischief which I'm pretty sure I'm drowning in right now, that much hasn't changed from when he was a kid but damn it, he's actually hot now! He has an air of arrogance and confidence which I'd imagine would make him almost intimidating to talk to, but it adds to him. Gary Oak would not be who he was in this world were it not for that air about him. Before he was just some annoying tool you could easily ignore, but he's certainly not anymore! Hell, I sort of wish I'd paid more attention to him when we were kids! He's tall, about 6 foot 2 so I stand about eye level with his chin. Nice. He looks strong, his muscles are evident through his t-shirt and it's all I can do not to reach out and touch his chest and find out if it's as toned as it looks. And that smirk, oh God that smirk! Misty, please don't go all fangirl and pass out!

Fuck! Is it wrong to find this guy so incredibly hot after everything he's done to women, my moron sisters included? Is it even allowed? I mean, Tracey did say he volunteered to come here today so maybe he's a little bit nice after all? Or maybe he's **another** one…

I am now a little too aware that I've been staring at him and that stupid, sexy smirk of his hasn't faltered at all. Come on man, are you trying to kill me? Thankfully, I have enough self-discipline to keep my surprise from showing on my face and enough willpower to force myself to glare at him. That's right, bitch; you won't win this stare-down if I can help it!

I've torn my focus from him and his infuriating good looking-ness (really, it should be illegal to be that good looking. He should be locked up on the basis that he's too much of a distraction to the entire female population) long enough to remember why he's here in the first place. I stand aside and motion for him to come in. He follows me in, and I notice he's finally dropped the smirk. I've been looking at him for a good long while now; I guess I'm starting to freak him out a little. If Tracey has said anything to him then I guess Gary's waiting for the explosion. I feel terrible, I shouldn't have gone off at Tracey like I did, he didn't deserve it at all. All he was doing was making sure I was OK and all I did was throw it back in his face.

"_Misty, are you absolutely positive you're OK? You've been acting weird for the past month and it's starting to scare me a little."_

"_Oh my fucking Arceus, Tracey, yes I'm OK! How many fucking times do I need to say it before you'll fucking believe me? Fuck! You stupid asshole, can't even draw good, and seriously, that headband is so frickin' stupid and those shorts__…"_

Yeah, I probably could have handled that better. That wasn't even the end of the conversation.

I led Gary into the pool area. It's only now that I notice that we've been staring at each other the whole time and it's making me feel more than a little awkward, something I'm all too used to. Only recently, with my sisters gone have I developed the confidence to feel comfortable in my own body, and Gary's own arrogant stare seems to see right through me, past every insecurity. Stupid, smug bastard. To avoid chatting and more than likely doing or saying something I'll regret (like calling him a stupid smug bastard) I just point in the direction of the broken pumps. He just looks at me oddly, like he's waiting me to do or say something. By his very nature he expects me to shamelessly melt into a puddle in his presence, and from the look in his eyes he seems confused that I'm not. Two can play at this game Oak, and I won't give you the satisfaction! Instead I turned on my heel and walked back to the living area of the Gym, not even bothering to turn back and look at him, my footsteps echoing down the halls. Ha! I think I'm winning this game too.

For the fiftieth time today I look around the home area of the Gym, and again for the fiftieth time I notice that this place is way too big for me on my own. With my sisters gone on their tours I feel lonely. Yeah, laugh at me, I feel lonely without my sisters who make me want to whip out the mallet I retired years ago. I was thinking on the subject when they first left again; it was 3 months ago, a week after Ash and I broke up, and their reasoning was that 'I was, like, no longer tied down and was now able to, like, resume the duty I ditched when I, like, started dating Ash, so I could, like, totally come back now?' The ridiculous insensitivity of my sisters truly boggles my mind. I can blame my sisters for many things, my complete lack of self-confidence, and the fact that I'm no longer able to see the world like only a Pokemon Trainer can, but on further reflection I came to realise that while I don't particularly like my sisters, I do still love them. It's an odd thing to feel, but I'm sure many families function like that.

I sit down in the living room and go back to the magazine I was 'reading', some dodgy 'Trainers Today' type monstrosity (I'm way too tired to pay any attention to the words) which runs stories on well-known trainers and the like. I take my felt tip pen and resume defacing a particular picture that has held my attention for some time now; Ash 'Captain Douche-face' Ketchum holding hands with May 'Skank Bitch' Harris. Yeah, I came up with those rather dodgy and hideously unoriginal names. I was pretty angry that day.

I'm not angry at Ash. A little bitter maybe, but not angry. I'm certainly angry at the situation I now find myself in, though. We broke up amiably enough to remain the good friends we always were, but we will always be competitive, it's our shared nature. Having this picture plastered in these shitty magazines means only one thing; the son of a bitch is winning the break up! This will not stand! It's one thing to traipse off back to Hoenn, but it's another thing entirely to traipse off back to Hoenn and pick up the same chick who replaced me the first time! Seriously, is he trying to rub my face in it?

And it's not even like I can get back at him! I don't have the time to find someone I could pretend to be going out with so I could have photos of our dates all over some shitty magazine where Ash could see and then I could feel like I have the upper hand in our breakup. I mean, there is that guy on the other side of the Gym currently fixing the pool pumps but aside from the absolute sack full of moral issues that would accompany something like that, I doubt very much that he's interested. Besides, Ash hates Gary, or maybe it's more like seething jealousy. But why would I not go off with one guy to keep another one happy? They don't like each other, why would it even matter? But why would I even be considering doing something like that in the first place? Ugh, thinking about this makes my head hurt. Whatever, it's not like I'm going to act on it or anything, and I'm an idiot for thinking it in the first place.

You know what? I think May would look good with a moustache, and Ash certainly doesn't have enough flies around him…

And damn it, where is Marina? She was supposed to be here ten minutes ago and we were going to do the whole bit! We were going to eat ice cream, trash on boys (Ash), call May every name under the sun, the whole clichéd slumber party thing, minus the pillow fights in our lingerie! I need someone to talk to about this, and there's no point to girl talk if there's no other girl to talk to! I certainly can't go bitch about my Ash and May problems to Gary... probably. Sometimes I wonder my friend is too spacy for her own good. It's all she can do not to get distracted by something shiny on the way here.

*SPLASH!*

"SON OF A BITCH, THAT'S COLD!"

…Did Gary seriously just fall in the pool? That's all it could have been, right? I probably should go check on him, shouldn't I? Giant idiot.

I hear the front door close. Marina must finally be here…and she's going to have to get past Gary before she can get to me. Should I run and grab her first or…oh no, he's beaten me to it.

I hang back down the hallway for a moment where they can't see me, I can only hear bits and pieces of the conversation they're now having. Marina is stuttering and giggling like schoolgirl. That doesn't bode well for her at all, or for me either. If they get together, either I'm never going to hear the end of just how awesome Gary is or I'm going to lose a friend 'cause I didn't warn her that the random man in my Gym also happened to be notorious as a womanizing jerk. Don't put it past her; she would hold that against me.

"I'm h-here to see Misty. Is she a-around?"

Well, I guess that's my cue. I just wish the cue didn't sound so hopelessly pathetic and borderline love-struck. And maybe delivered with a little more conviction next time.

I walk out into the Gym, fully prepared to tear Gary a new one for shamelessly flirting with an innocent girl like Marina (well, she's hardly an 'innocent', but Gary doesn't need to know that), and maybe tease him a little for falling into the pool in the first place. Seriously, how did he miss it? It's a bloody Olympic sized pool after all and it's right there! I was however not at all prepared to walk out there and find him standing in the waist-deep water of the shallow end of the pool minus a shirt, arms folded across his broad chest.

Hello boys.

And oh my Arceus, he is every bit as cut as I've been imagining for the past hour. And tanned too. And he's all wet and the hair, he's just – oh no. I'm fangirling again, aren't I? Misty, I'm begging you; resist the temptation to jump in the pool after him! I promise you that no good will come of it!

And now the asshole is smirking at me again. He's not going to make this easy for me, is he? Just ignore him, as much as you can anyway, and pretend the look doesn't affect you at all and…um, um, um, say something witty damn it!

"Marina, he's not even worth the air my Magikarp can't breathe" Well done "Besides, we made plans."

And she's not even here on this plane of existence anymore, is she? She's been hypnotised. That's it, its official; the smoldering gaze of Gary Oak coupled with THAT smirk possesses magical, entrancing qualities. The power to make a girl forget about where she is or what is was she intended to do before making eye contact and to reduce her to a pathetic mass of jelly who now apparently lacks the ability to form coherent thoughts and sentences. For a guy to have this sort of an effect on a girl, and for said girl to have this sort of reaction, should I feel sorry for her or not? It seems cruel to leave her hanging, what with Gary looking content to just smile THAT smile at her and enjoy her response to it. Not nice Oak, not nice at all. You of all people should understand that I won't let you lead any friend of mine on, especially after what you did to Lily two years ago. But for now, first things first…

"Marina?" I snap my finger in front of her face for good measure. Nothing doing. "Marina?" a little louder now, and still she ignores me. Her resolve to keep her eyes firmly on her target might be impressive if it weren't becoming so damn infuriating! "MARINA!"

"Marina…" comes a sexy little whisper from pool side. He hasn't grown up at all, has he? He's still the same guy who thoroughly believes that he can have any woman he wants. Seriously, the woman who'll somehow manage to get Gary Oak, ladies' man extraordinaire, to settle down should be ordained as a Saint. Having said that, I can now say I have felt the simultaneous desire to both punch someone's skull in and passionately make out with them and then do other things to them later and Arceus, I hate myself for the latter. I can feel every little pent up bit of anger at myself, Marina and Gary come to the surface and I know for sure that I've gone completely red.

"Yes…?"

And further proof of the magical qualities of one Gary Oak. Though I don't think the whisper bought Marina **completely** back from the dead, it's still closer than any other mad scientist will get to finally having a handle on re-animation.

He points over towards me, no doubt to get Marina's focus on me. She's still off in her own little dream world and has paid me no mind since I got here. If it weren't so damn annoying this would surely be funny. Slowly but surely she turns to face me and she seems surprised to see that I'm standing here at all. One look at my angry face, which I'm sure is now an unflattering shade of magenta, is all it takes to break this little spell she seems to be under.

"Misty, what's wrong?"

Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that you promised you'd come here after I called you explaining that I felt like a giant pile of crap and wanted to hang out with my best friend for a while only to have you completely ignore me for this jerk, who I find ridiculously attractive and hate myself for it, who really should be hard at work cleaning the pumps quickly like he promised he would but instead he opts to flirt like crazy with you. I'm pretty sure that's what's wrong! Or something along those lines, anyway.

Instead of letting it all out and embarrassing everyone in attendance, I grab Marina by the arm and drag her back down the hall. I hear a little "Bye Marina" from back in the pool, and I'm not sure if punching her out or laughing my ass off would be the more appropriate response to the way Marina is now waving back.

I lead Marina back to the living area and close the door behind me. Marina still looks to be suffering the after-effects of Gary's superpowers, still a little spaced out and not really paying much attention to her surroundings, perfectly demonstrated as she clumsily walks into the coffee table, probably bruising her shins in the process. She flops on the sofa carelessly; I follow soon after.

"Misty," she says in that breathless and excited manner of all women after a thorough flirting with, "how come you never told me about your hot new Gym assistant?"

"Whoa! OK, I'll stop you there; His name is Gary Oak, and he's the grandson of Professor Oak. He's not a Gym assistant, he's here because I've apparently scarred Tracey for life and he doesn't want to come back here right now"

"OK, but that doesn't totally explain why he's here, swimming in your pool!"

"He fell in, alright? Or at least I think he fell. He's here because he volunteered to fix my pool pumps because Tracey's too much of a sissy to face me in person"

"Ooh, so he volunteered, did he? Did you think that maybe he volunteered to come here to see you?"

"Ha! Yeah, right. Gary Oak has absolutely nothing to gain by seeing me! We haven't seen each other in ten years! Unless he's another one of those sleazy as fuck gentlemen callers I've been getting since I came back, I really don't think that this was all for me"

"Hmm" is all she can say right now. I can't say for sure exactly what Gary's motivation was to make him come here today, and I'm on the fence as to whether or not I'd even like to find out. On the one hand it's very flattering to think he might be here for me but then it's odd and more than a little creepy to think that he's been holding a flame for me for all these years or that he decided he had to have me after seeing a picture of me somewhere; but then on the other hand he might be another one shooting for Bingo, like so many others who have come here in the past three months.

"Misty?" Marina's now steady voice breaks my little reverie. "I think I should take Gary a towel. I'm sure he's cold and – "

"Marina, I know you. All you want is to drape yourself over his shoulders and torso and ask him how else you can warm him up. If his well-being means that much to you, I'll take a towel out". Patting her knee I stand up and grab a towel from a nearby cupboard, and walk back out to the pool, not even looking back to Marina who I'm sure is pouting like she's six years old (and more than a little horny) again.

Clutching the towel to my chest I walk back to the pool. Gary's hauled himself out of the pool, and he's simply standing there, seemingly deep in thought, looking for all the world like he was sculpted with all the care and expertise Michelangelo had for 'David'. Again I try to reign my for-too-long suppressed hormones and stop myself from drooling. I hold the towel out to him, and all he can do is gape at me. I'm not surprised. I haven't been the most gracious of hosts and he probably thinks that by suddenly thinking to offer some sort of hospitality means I've finally snapped. He looks back and forth from the towel to my face before I start to feel somewhat annoyed with him.

"Are you going to take the towel, Gary?"

He finally takes the towel from my hands and begins to dry his hair with it. I sigh wistfully, and I can't say I'm too sure why I'm about to offer this next thing…

"Do you want to take a hot shower?"

He looks up and looks for all the world like I've afforded him the opportunity to study a shiny Mew in person. Or whatever other remarkable scientific discovery he might be interested in making. I know I'd like to see a shiny Mew.

"Yeah, thanks. That'd be great"

I lead him down the halls, making sure the door to the living room is closed; I don't need Marina seeing me walk a shirtless Gary down the halls. Stopping in front of the bathroom door, I open it and step aside, and motion for Gary to walk in. He stares right into my eyes, almost like he can see right through me and I feel myself glued to the spot; try as I might, I can't seem to move. He seems to be enjoying this reaction.

"So…You going to join me or what?" I sigh. "Ugh, please Gary, don't start" I'm getting tired of pretending I don't find this guy hotter than any other man Kanto and maybe a little intriguing, and I'm finding it very difficult to feel OK with that.

"Fine, I'll stop teasing. For now, anyway" Oh no, the smirk is back and he's taken a step closer to me and our bodies are so close that they are almost touching. I can feel his breathe on my forehead and I feel myself summon every last ounce of self-control to keep from swooning and keep my face expressionless. It is hard with this guy, I tell you. Hell, I almost want to succumb to his whims and let him take me right here on the bathroom floor. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.

"What about my clothes?" A revelation comes; I remember a delicious piece of dirt I know I'll be able to hold over his head right now "You wouldn't have guy's clothes here, and I can't very well go back to Pallet and get something new to wear, and my stuff won't dry for ages, and as much as I know you and your friend would love it, I can't parade around wearing nothing but towel. What's it gonna be, Red?"

I look up at him with a smirk of my own, and put a hand to his chest and push him through the doorway and close the door after him. Thankfully there is a God and he can't see the way I'm blushing after touching him like that. His skin was soft and smooth, and as toned as I imagined it would feel. Without his eyes on me I can grant myself the little fangirl moment I've been denying myself since he walked through the doors this morning. Fortunately I gather my wits about me before delivering the final blow.

"Oh, don't worry about that Gary. With any luck, we'll still have the clothes you left here last time you skipped out after spending the night here screwing my sister"

And with that I'm blessed with the stunned silence that lets me know that I've won this round, but I'm far from winning the war.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

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**AN: **The 'May' mentioned is the 'May' from the Hoenn League series in case there was any confusion. I could have sworn she had an actual surname but I couldn't find one. I chose 'Harris', well, just because!

If there is anyone interested, I'd love someone to bounce ideas for this story off. It would make you privy to spoilers and such, but I have lots of different thoughts as to how this story is going to play out and I'd like to discuss it with someone if anyone has the time. Just flick me a message if you're interested!

If you've got some time, a review would be very much appreciated!

Next update won't be until around New Years so in the meantime, everyone stay safe and have a very Merry Christmas!


	4. Chapter 3: Mirrors

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas! Here is the latest chapter for your reading pleasure, and we're back to a normal third person narrative.

This chapter is where this story finally earns its M rating with lots of booze and a little bit sex; maybe we'd even call it a mild lime. It's nothing terribly explicit; just a little Gary flashback, I wasn't too descriptive of the process. If you don't think it's for you, skip past it.

**DISCLAIMER: **I'm relatively certain the true owner of Pokemon doesn't sit at home submitting Pokemon fan fiction. Pretty sure anyway. It'd be very cool if he did. In either case, I don't own Pokemon.

Now anything in _italics _indicates thoughts, the other side of a telephone conversation and flashbacks where indicated.

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 3: 'Mirrors'

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* * *

Gary closed his eyes and sighed, falling without grace onto his bed. He bought a hand up to push his bangs out of his face and rub his tired eyes. He had all but sprinted out of the Cerulean Gym after taking the shower Misty offered without saying so much as 'goodbye' (another new thing, he noted, running away from a girl) before driving back home to Pallet Town perhaps a little faster than what would have been considered necessary. If his little detour into the Gyms' pool hadn't made him feel cold, certainly Misty's last words to him made the blood in his veins run like ice. For the life of him, he couldn't work out why her words shook him as they did.

_"Oh, don't worry about that Gary. With any luck, we'll still have the clothes you left here last time you skipped out after spending the night here screwing my sister"_

He was willing to bank a sizeable portion of his income that it was merely the fact that Misty was aware that he had a history with the elder Waterflower sisters that was making him feel this way. For a reason that wasn't coming easily to him, this didn't sit at all well with Gary. Never mind that achieving the 'full sweep' would be almost impossible now, but there was something else buried there.

Gary bought his hands up to massage his temples and groaned in frustration. He tried so hard not to allow memories of that night two years ago to flood his mind. At the time he hadn't regretted it (his actions he hadn't regretted at least, the aftermath was another story). In fact, what he did that night happened on a regular basis, especially if the venue for the activities in question wasn't his own bedroom. But now, the thought made him feel as though his insides were being twisted. If he were forced to try and pinpoint the moment he began to feel this emptiness, he might have said this was the night it all began to change.

These feelings had been bubbling up with some intensity inside Gary for some time now, creeping up on him and attacking without warning, and it was not something that he welcomed. He was on holidays! If he couldn't relax and forget about these things now then when would he be able to? Instead it had become all he was able to think about. He hadn't sorted out his feelings with any sort of clarity just yet, but there was a certain awareness now. His belief was that he needed the 'Sensational Set' as an achievement of some sort, a trophy of accomplishment, and then he might be able to stop this. Had he taken some time to truly sort out his feelings, he would have known that he wanted something different entirely.

Still though, in the warm confines of his room, Gary closed his eyes and reluctantly allowed himself to reflect back with great regret on the night he spent with Lily Waterflower two years ago.

**FLASHBACK – 2 YEARS AGO**

_4 nights after the banquet held in honour of Gary finally achieving his Junior Professor status, he decided that a room filled with stuffy old men in white coats discussing whether or not the young Oak would ever amount to anything was not the way he wanted to celebrate. Gary wanted a proper party. And where do you go when you want a decent party?_

_Cerulean City, of course!_

_Cerulean City was, and still is, a notorious party capital with more bars and clubs than any other city in Kanto and the other surrounding regions. Gary had recently turned 20, and since the legal age in Kanto was 18, he was now able to have full access to all the clubs without a worry, although the rather minor matter of whether or not he was of legal age had never really hindered him in the past__._

_As soon as he was able, Gary took the next flight back to Cerulean City. Alone. He knew he would be able to find company as soon as he hit the clubs. He was after all; young, good looking, and famous, and he had the Oak surname behind him. Who in their right mind would pass up the opportunity for a good time with him?_

_Gary decided to hit up one of the newer clubs in the city with one of those stupid, abstract names called 'Mirror's. As fate would have it, this was where Lily Waterflower and a large group of her friends were celebrating her 23__rd__ birthday._

'_Mirrors' was full to the brim that night with sweaty, dancing bodies. Gary, after the 7 hour flight back to his home region (where he had started the party a little early alcohol-wise), was determined to unwind, have a few drinks and find someone to have a little fun with later on__.__ After trawling the streets trying to find the club, he finally found himself tipping off the bouncer and being led inside. Gary took in his new surroundings with a strange combination of excitement and disdain. Gary had never done very well in large crowds, especially when they were all packed into such a small space. He sat at the bar and ordered a beer. Lazily he scanned the crowd, his eyes landing on the group of half a dozen women in the corner. Sitting in the middle of the group with 4 empty shot glasses in front of her, he recognised the distinctive pink hair of Lily Waterflower, who was more than a little drunk. In fact, she was downright plastered. Her trashy plastic tiara reading 'Birthday Girl' sat askew on her head, and her hair was falling out in loosely curled tendrils of her intricate up-do._

_Gary smirked to himself before downing the last of his beer. It didn't take long for him to get the female bartenders' attention. He indicated his empty bottle to the girl, who shot him what she truly (albeit very wrongly) believed was a sexy smirk of her own and a little wink before bringing a new bottle over and opening it for him, leaning across the bar to give Gary an unobstructed view of her cleavage. Gary smiled flirtatiously, but paid no real mind to the 'Beer Wench' as he dubbed her in his mind who was still pulling every trick in the book to get his attention despite having moved on to another customer__,__ and continued to eye Lily and her little entourage with great interest for a few moments before deciding that she was the one, for tonight at least, and that he would be crashing their party tonight._

_Unbeknownst to both Gary and Lily, photographers had been following them ever since they each arrived, Gary being famous as he was, and Lily being quite the celebrity herself. They were for the moment blissfully unaware that there would be many photos of them in somewhat compromising positions in magazines and newspapers the following morning that would be seen by all their friends and relatives._

_Gary indicated for another beer and finally decided to work his way over, battling through the dense crowd. He knew the elder three Waterflower sisters were incredibly close and often left no stone unturned when discussing sensitive topics such as each other's sex lives. He expected to be recognised, and he expected to have to persuade Lily to allow him to join in their celebration. He did not expect this reaction when he finally made eye contact;_

"_GARYYYYYYY! Come here!" Lily screeched his name and waved in the unashamed way of all drunken girls. Even with the music as loud as it was, Gary winced at her volume and flinched unconsciously. Luckily, Lily didn't seem to notice this; the potent combination of alcohol, the music and the strobe lights all going straight to her head. The girls with her all turned in their spots and watched Gary, smirking as he slowly made his way over to their table; his eyes gained a predatory glint, not leaving his target. He inched his way closer, sliding into the booth to take a seat beside Lily, who was by this point staring up at him with eyes clouded over with thinly veiled lust__.__ The rest of the girls wore a combination of looks, ranging from lust of their own, disgust, confusion and surprise. Gary, however, only had eyes tonight for the Birthday Girl. _

_It was entirely against Gary's moral principles to force himself on a woman. He knew he was a player, but he was not a monster__.__ He would always ensure beforehand the lucky lady was just up for it as he was, and if there was any resistance of any kind he would immediately back off__.__ There were plenty of fish in the sea, after all. As a general rule, Gary rarely had to do much more than walk over to a girl and shoot her 'the look' before she began to go weak at the knees and pull him somewhere more private, and this particular situation was no different._

_The night had started innocently enough for Gary. As he had expected, Lily had begun to ignore her friends, putting her focus entirely on the young man before her. If they had been alone, they probably would have gone back to her place by now but there were others with them, valiantly trying to bring Lily back down to enjoy her party with her friends. Gary found himself having to work a little harder than usual to keep Lily's eyes on him. Unfortunately, through the haze of alcohol, Lily read this as something more. Too bad Gary saw this only as a bit of fun, just his sort of celebration, something he believed he had earned. _

_At one particular point in the evening, Lily's friends were watching in disbelief as Gary was slowly kissing his way down Lily's jaw line to her collarbone, gently nipping and sucking the skin along the way, without having said a word__._Sweet Arceus, his gaze is magical_ thought one of the friends. Lily was giggling like a schoolgirl, and her friends, tipsy as they were, didn't fail to notice that she made no effort to stop him._

"_Like, do any of you know who this guy is?" whispered friend number one, careful for the moment not to interrupt the steamy scene playing out in front of them, Gary's hand having moved under the table to stroke Lily's thigh and higher, the kisses not stopping, and making no effort to hide what he was doing._

"_I heard her call him Gary, but, like, I don't know who he is" replied friend number two, just as quietly._

"_Isn't he that Oak guy? He's supposed to be, like, really smart and stuff?" friend number three offered her valuable insight._

_A chorus of 'Oohs' and 'Aahs' went around the table._

"_Didn't Lily talk about him sleeping with Daisy and Violet, though?" friend number four, sober and designated driver. "It seems odd that she'd be OK with this if he's already pawed over them"._

"_Hey, yeah! I remember her talking about that!" friend number two riding a brainwave. "I think I saw him in a magazine. He was, like, in last weeks' issue of PokeWho with the Silph Co's CEO's daughter"_

_All the girls looked at each other and gasped as though this was the most horrible conclusion they could possibly come to, and began to try and pull Lily away from Gary. Tapping her on the shoulder or tugging gently at her hair wasn't working, neither was their usual tactic of steering the conversation to the stupidly inane topics like clothes and accessories which Lily usually had a strong opinion on. There was no tearing her away from Gary and his intoxicating touches._

"_Lil?" sober friend four spoke up, trying to speak over the music and Gary's ministrations on her friend. "Lil, do you want another drink or something?"_

_Lily turned her head slightly and missed the look of annoyance flash through Gary's eyes, something that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the group. They began to wonder if trying to get the birthday party back on track was the wisest decision_

"_I want something frui – mpf!" Gary cut Lily off with an assault to her lips. The kiss was rough and dominating and judging from the moans coming from Lily, she didn't mind one bit._

_The rest of the group continued to stare, some irritation, some in envy, as Gary kept up his efforts on Lily. The girls were unsure whether or not they should be doing more as it seemed like their own efforts were only going to fall flat. What was the offer of a drink compared to the tongue of an incredibly hot, famous guy (who was incredibly good at what he was doing) down your throat? At least, that's what these girls thought. Nobody ever said these girls were clever._

"_Maybe we should just leave them alone?" suggested sober friend four quietly, although she didn't need to be quiet. Lily and Gary were in their own little world, paying no mind to their surroundings._

"_She does seem to be enjoying herself, and it is her birthday" reasoned previously silent friend five._

"_But we all know she'll be tossed aside in the morning. Gary doesn't want anything beyond tonight, we all know that" piped up also sober friend six._

"_Maybe we should, like, let her learn that herself?" friend number two suggested._

"_Let her have her fun tonight. I don't think Gary would let us take her anyway, he seems like he might get pissed off if we try again. When the shit hits the fan in the morning, we'll be there for her" proposed sober friend four._

_At this stage, Lily and Gary finally broke for air, his hand on her thigh trailing higher and higher until Lily arched her back and moaned in pleasure with Gary looking very pleased with himself. Her right hand was pressed against his chest, the other tangled in his hair. Without taking his eyes off Lily's, he loudly said, "Sorry ladies, but I'm going to steal your friend tonight"_

_Lily's drunkenness quickly caught up with her, the giggles came back and as they tried to stand up, she stumbled and fell. Her friends looked on; outraged Gary didn't at least try to catch her. His own reflexes had been dampened by alcohol and he wasn't fast enough to keep Lily from falling. _

_The group of friends watched as astonished as they could be given their individual states as the pair staggered through the crowd and towards the door. Lost for words, and not sure if they should make another effort to try and bring Lily back, they turned back to the table and ordered another round of drinks, bitching loudly about the nerve and arrogance of Gary Oak. _

_Fortunately, the Cerulean Gym was barely a hundred metres away from the nightclub. They made their way back quickly save for the few times Lily pushed Gary into nearby walls to instigate yet another make out session. Gary merely smirked and pushed her away, winking at her to let her know that she could have all she wanted of him as soon as they found a bed. _

_When they finally made their way to the Gym door, it was Lily against her handbag in a mad battle to find the door key. Save for the dim light cast by the streetlights, there was not enough light to see what she was doing. Groaning, Lily decided to tussle with the door knob, looking shocked when it actually opened. They walked inside as quietly as they could manage; they looked around to make sure there was no burglar in the Gym. Satisfied that there were no odd noises, and that nothing was missing, Lily gave a sigh of relief, her mind coming back to her after being out in the cold night air and the shock of the possibility of being robbed. As she turned around she was grabbed by a pair of arms. Lily gave a small shriek of fright before realising that it was Gary who had the tight hold on her, and who had begun to kiss her roughly, pushing her back onto the sofa so he could climb on top of her, bearing his weight on his arms so as to not crush her._

_Gary had managed between kisses to pull down the straps of her dress, exposing her breasts. As he was about to take a rosy nub between his teeth, Lily sat up, breathing heavily before uttering one word between gasps; "bedroom". Quickly she pulled her straps up and got off the sofa and began to run up the stairs to where the sisters' bedrooms were and pulled open the door which led to her room. _

_Throwing her decorative throw pillows to the floor, Lily wasted no time, pushing Gary onto her bed and climbing on top of him. Eagerly she began to unbutton his dress shirt to expose his chest before going in for another rough kiss. Gary broke the kiss quickly only to pull Lily's dress over her head before running his hands up and down her sides, over the sensitive skin of her ribs and stomach. She quivered under his touch and fell forward, staring into Gary's eyes. He looked away a moment later to quickly remove their underwear, before grasping her hips to adjust her position and beginning the dance they knew so well._

_Two hours later, Gary awoke with the headache to end all headaches. He looked to his right and saw that Lily was still fast asleep. Getting up quietly, he tried as best he could to find his clothes in the dark. He only got as far as locating his boxers before loudly tripping on the pile of pillows on the floor. "Shit!" he swore much more loudly than he intended into the darkness. _

"_Mmm, ugh?" Lily was stirring, mumbling nonsense as she turned in bed. Gary watched this and panicked. He knew from the beginning of the night that he would not be here in the morning. Instinctively he grabbed his boxer shorts, paying no mind to the other clothes that he would no doubt not be able to find, and opened the window as quietly as he could so to not rouse Lily, who was still twisting and mumbling. He stuck his head out the window to judge the distance to the ground and noticed a trellis against the wall that he would be able to climb down. In Gary's mind, this was the only way. He carefully placed both his legs over the sill so he was sitting on it, and pushed himself out the rest of the way. Clutching his boxers to his crotch (why he didn't put them on in the first place he'd never understand) he proceeded to climb down the trellis one-handed. He wasn't careful enough, though. At the halfway point Gary lost his footing and fell the rest of the way. Covered in scratches and light grazes that would certainly turn into large bruises later, he moaned in pain. He waited for a paranoid moment behind a shrub to make sure Lily wouldn't get up and start looking for him. Once he was satisfied that he wasn't going to be followed, he put his boxers on and made a mad dash to the Cerulean Plaza Hotel where he had a deluxe suite. Only when he got there did he remember that he had left his room key in his trouser pockets, still in Lily's bedroom. "FUCK!"_

_He slept in the unoccupied lobby of the hotel until someone who could help him arrived. Being famous had its perks; they allowed Gary back into his room without a second thought, and were unfailingly discreet and polite, not asking why one of their most high profile occupants was sleeping half naked in the lobby. He had a shower and packed his bags once more before calling a taxi to take him back to the airport so he could go back to his home in Sinnoh._

_Over the next few days he tried without success to block out the gossip that was building up around him. Newspapers as well as gossip rags were plastered with photos of Gary and Lily from that night, ranging from the intimate displays at the nightclub itself, to shots of Gary running half-naked from the Gym at 3am, to pictures of a very hung over Gary at the airport and Lily crying at a local café with friends the following day. The media portrayed it in a way that gave Gary the reputation he had now, and painted Lily as an idiot who should have known what she was getting into. While Gary never spoke to his family about what happened, he knew his grandfather was mortified, and his late parents watching over him were probably ashamed too. While everyone tried to keep his personal and professional lives separate, he noticed that even his colleagues and mentors were treating him differently. For a short while, guilt hung over Gary like a cloud. He found it difficult to continue his work, and hated the way his colleagues seemed to be holding him at arm's length__.__ After some time, Gary stopped giving a shit what everyone else thought. He knew he was very good at what he did and fuck everyone else if they couldn't see past his convoluted personal life to be a part of it. Gary never did stop sleeping around, continuing on his quest for validation and female approval, but did consciously try to limit the amount of local celebrities. _

**END OF FLASHBACK**

RING RING RING!

Gary sat bolt upright on his bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. _Surely I wasn't asleep for that long?_ He ran down the stairs to the video phone, quietly and careful not to trip, in the dining room. He stared at the blank screen for a few moments, wondering if he should bother picking the phone up. It was, by this point, well past 11pm and Gary felt as though he had earned an early night. As he was about to turn away something made him stop. With a groan of annoyance, and cursing his polite upbringing, he picked up the phone and leaned in to turn the video screen on.

"Hello, Oak Pokemon Laboratory, Gary Oak speaking?" _What the fuck do you want?_

"_Oakie? Hey-y-y-y!"_

_Oakie? What the hell? _"…Red?" Gary was now more than awake, and he felt his anger dissipate as he looked into the flushed, gorgeous face of the incredibly drunk Misty Waterflower. _From one drunk Waterflower to another._

"Um, hi? What's up?"

"_Oakie *hiccup* you left allllllll your things here!"_ She was positively hammered.

"Really?" Gary was a lot more tired than he was giving willing to give himself credit for, and his usual witty comebacks and wise ass remarks were long gone for now. "What did I – oh" All of a sudden it dawned on Gary that he hadn't had the presence of mind to bring back with him Tracey's tool kit, nor had he bought back the clothes that had gotten wet when he had fallen in the pool. He had changed into the clothes he had left at the Gym that night two years ago, but had left the Gym without another word, completely forgetting that he was leaving another set of clothing behind. Misty demonstrated her point by holding up his clothes in front of the camera.

"_Y-you should…c-come back…for all of it *hiccup* I know I'd l-like to s-see you a-again"_ Misty was slurring her words terribly. _Wait, what did she just say?_

"Really Red, you want to see me again? Didn't get enough of my hot body earlier?" Gary teased, crossing his arms over his chest. He noticed how bright her eyes became when her face was flushed as it was. He wasn't sure how much he should read into her words. She was very drunk after all, but the look on her face appeared serious.

"_Y-yeahhh, I do. I n-never get the hot ones __.__I never get anybody. Nobody _really _wants me. Everyone just wants to _win._ Maybe w-without my s-s-sisters and m-my s-s-stupid friends here I might have a chance"_ Suddenly she moved out of view, revealing quite the array of empty beer bottles on a bench behind her. Gary's eyes widened, taking in the amount she had drank. _Shit. That's no good. _

Gary knew it was probably the beers talking, but he was shocked that she could still talk about herself like that. Did she really not realise how beautiful she was? He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Well Red, if it'll make you feel better, I'll drop by again tomorrow. Wouldn't want to deprive a fan now, would I?" he flashed a winning smile and winked, not entirely sure why he was flirting with a drunk Misty Waterflower when he knew he would have preferred her to have her entirely aware of what he was doing and saying. She gave no response, however. Gary heard a soft snoring coming from Misty, and allowed a small smile to grace his lips.

"Good night, Misty" He hung up the phone. Gary knew from many years of personal experience that Misty would have a killer hangover in the morning, and immediately felt bad that there wouldn't be anyone there in the morning to help her. It was awful getting drunk alone, but those horrible feelings increased tenfold when you woke up in the morning with the hangover remembering why you got yourself drunk alone in the first place. With a smile on his face, Gary Oak made up his mind, and no one would be able to convince him otherwise.

Inwardly, he rejoiced. He had thought that after the events of today there would be no good reason to ever set foot back inside the Cerulean City Gym, or to see its leader again. Honestly, had he remembered Tracey's tools on his own he would have been happy to leave them there. But fate had given him another chance, and Gary planned on taking it.

_Well Red, looks like I'll be seeing you again real soon. _

**XXXXXXXXXX**

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**AN: **And that's why Gary hates throw pillows!I do hope this chapter wasn't too weird for anyone. I've never written a scene like that, but I really felt I needed to put the flashback in to start the eventual change in Gary properly. Is it bad to say I kinda enjoyed writing this one?

If you've got a spare couple of moments, a review would be great! Consider it a late Christmas present!

Expect an update early in the New Year. And if you're going to a party or anything like that, stay safe and drink lots of water! Happy New Years!


	5. Chapter 4: Sharing

Hello again dear readers! Here we are once more, a little earlier than promised too! Aren't I nice?

**DISCLAIMER: **In between posting the previous chapter and this one, I've been so busy I haven't found any time to acquire the Pokemon franchise. When everything slows down a little, I might see what I can do about becoming a billionaire and buying them out. Until then, no I don't own Pokemon.

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 4: 'Sharing'

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Bright morning light was filtering through the glass doors', beaming straight down onto Misty's sleeping form, causing her to start emerging from her deep sleep. Trying in vain to shield her eyes from what she felt sure was a personal attack from the sun itself, she groaned loudly. She had a migraine she was sure could fell a herd of Rhydon.

Cursing her stupidity and vowing she would never drink again, she slowly sat up and took in her surroundings, taking note of the fact that it was barely 6am and that she wasn't in her own bedroom. She had fallen asleep in front of the video phone in her living room, with the phone still clutched tightly in her hand. Misty groaned again, both in pain and in dread. She couldn't be sure, but the way her stomach clenched as though it was knotting told her that phone calls were made and conversations were had. Misty tried valiantly to remember who she may have called so she might be able to apologise for whatever drunken nonsense she may have said, but succeeded only in making her head feel worse.

Misty, as a general rule, was not a big consumer of alcohol. She usually liked to keep her wits about her, and hated the feeling of not being in control of a situation. The irony of this was not lost on her as she fought the losing battle against her very first hangover.

It took all of Misty's resolve to stand up and walk into the kitchen to grab an ice pack from the freezer to clutch to her throbbing head. She held the ice pack at all angles but it did nothing to quell the pressure mounting. Misty had never had to deal with a hangover before, nor had she ever nursed someone through a hangover. If she had ever known anything about hangover after-care, it wasn't coming to mind now. All Misty cared about at that moment finding the sofa so she could lie down so the room would stop spinning around her. She was coated in a fine sheen of sweat and she was vaguely aware that she was quite cold. Finally sitting down, she covered her eyes once more with a pillow and relished the cool softness of the couch beneath her as she tried once again to go to sleep.

The sudden banging at the front door sounded as though it was resonating through her skull and echoing in all corners. Holding her ice pack to her head, Misty was ready to tear the limbs off whoever was at the door at such a ridiculous hour. _Probably some trainer looking for an ass kicking. _She was very well aware that the Cerulean Gym was considered to be one of the highest ranked Gyms in the Indigo League, a fact that she was exceedingly proud of, but it didn't stop young kids from traipsing as though they owned the place, Bulbasaurs and Pikachus in tow, confidence blazing from every pore in their bodies, convinced they were going to win and that she'd erect a billboard on the roof with their face on it. Usually Misty felt bad to turn these kids away, and when they were too stubborn to take her word for it, she felt bad when she proceeded to unceremoniously wipe the floor with them. This morning though, there was nothing on this earth that could save whatever young sprout was on the other side of the door from the intense (though rather sluggish) fury of Misty.

She trudged towards the door slowly, the combination of the continuous knocking at the door and the echoing of her own footsteps around her doing nothing to alleviate the pounding in her head. Grabbing the doorknob Misty stopped for a moment to center herself; the room felt as though it was spinning faster and faster, and Misty felt certain she was about to vomit.

Weighing up her options as quickly as she could on the spot, she decided that there was no way she'd make it back to the toilet if she turned round now. She threw the door open and stumbled out with all the grace of a baby hippo; not paying any attention to whomever it was standing on the threshold. Misty fell to her hands and knees on the grass and began to heave, vomiting like she never had before. She heard a sigh from behind her, and the feeling of cool hands on her neck reaching to hold her hair back. Misty had no time to panic as to who this mystery helper was as wave after wave of nausea assaulted her body, causing her to cough and dry reach as her stomach neared emptiness. She was dimly aware of someone gently rubbing circles on her back; she turned her body to face the person helping her through this very embarrassing episode, and couldn't help the shock that crossed her face upon identifying the kneeling figure next to her. "Gary?"

Gary shrugged and picked up a large bottle of water and painkillers which he had placed on the ground. "Thought you could use some help" his voice held no trace of teasing or malice. Nor did Gary have his usual air of arrogance. All pretense had been dropped.

Misty cringed the sunlight shone right down on her face and held a hand to her head as she waited the answer to her next question, "It was you I called last night, wasn't it?"

He allowed a small smile to grace his features, though she noticed it wasn't his usual smirk, "Yes. You were drunk out of your mind, telling me I had to come back here to get my stuff, and telling me how much you missed me" he winked at her for good measure. "Plus I knew you'd be like this today, and I knew from many years of personal experience that you'd probably need my assistance" he opened the water bottle and handed it to Misty, who practically snatched it out of his hands and downed nearly half the bottle in one go. Gary watched this with a smirk on his face.

"Thirsty, are you?"

"You're the one with, and I quote, 'many years of personal experience', you tell me"

Gary laughed, tossing the box of pills towards her. "Here, take a couple of these. They'll help with your headache" he moved to stand up, grabbing Misty's elbow to pull her slowly up with him. "In the meantime, get back inside and go take a cool shower. I'll make you some breakfast"

Misty eyed him skeptically, "What, breakfast? And you're going to make it? You'll have to forgive me if I have a hard time believing that. Besides," Misty moved her arms to clutch her stomach, "I don't think I can eat anything right now"

Gary sighed, "Believe what you like Red, but I am here to help you and you do need to eat. So go get your ass in the shower, and I'll carry you and undress you myself if I have to so don't test me"

Misty knew better than to question him, knowing very well that he'd make good on that threat if he had to. Silently she walked back into the Gym, glaring at him as he walked in behind her in a fashion not unlike their encounter the day before. Gary noticed this and chuckled quietly to himself. Misty sighed and turned to face him.

"What's so funny, Oak?"

"Oh, so I'm not Oakie anymore, am I?"

"Oakie? What the hell are you on about?"

"I should be asking you that, seeing as how you're the one who gave me that lovely new nickname"

At that moment, Misty felt her cheeks heat up. She truly believed she could see the shattered pieces of her dignity on the floor around her. Without another word she turned away and continued towards the bathroom, shoving Gary with as much strength as she could muster (which was not a lot given her current state) into the kitchen as they walked past it as she continued towards the bathroom. Gary stood there for a moment, waiting for the sound of cascading water from the shower before he began to gather some ingredients to make the biggest, greasiest breakfast spread Misty had ever seen in her life. In Gary's past experience, greasy toasted bacon sandwiches had never failed to make him feel better when hung over, but this wasn't about him now. There was someone else who needed to be looked after.

He moved back and forth in the kitchen between the fridge and the stove where he set about frying some bacon and eggs, dividing his attention between the stove and a toaster where he toasted plenty of bread to have on the side. As Misty emerged from the shower a few minutes later, Gary was mounting everything high on a plate. Misty visibly paled when the scent of the bacon hit her, but she pulled herself together long enough to sit down at the table. She shot Gary a questioning look as he set the plate and large glass of water in front of her, then taking the seat opposite and handing her a knife and fork. "Eat up, Red".

Misty made no move to eat; instead she pushed the food around her plate with her fork, looking at him with a questioning glance; she didn't have the energy to put up a proper fight. "What the hell is all this, Gary?"

"This, Red, is greasy bacon and eggs to help absorb the alcohol in your stomach, and carbs and sugars from the bread to give you energy, more water since you're already dehydrated. And," he popped two tablets from their foil sheet, "paracetemol to help out with that headache since you didn't take them earlier. You'll probably want to take a multivitamin later too. Now eat, I promise you'll feel better"

It was too strange for Misty to see Gary like this, sincere and genuine, and wanting to help. It was a side of him that was entirely foreign. She didn't even know there was this side to him. _Why should I care what Gary Oak is like, anyway?_ She swallowed the tablets with a large gulp of water, and proceeded to take a few small bites of the bacon and eggs, stopping and throwing her fork on the table when she noticed Gary hadn't taken his eyes off her.

"What the hell is going on Oak? Why are you being so weird?"

"Weird?" Gary's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's so weird?"

"You are! You're being…_nice_!" Misty threw her hands around in all manner of gestures. "You waltz on in here, holding my hair when I vomit, making me take a shower and you insist on making me breakfast and medicating me! Why are you doing this?"

"You live alone, you drank alone, and you woke up alone. I knew you'd need the help" he answered simply, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. He was being infuriatingly nonchalant about the whole situation which was pissing Misty right off, mostly because he was bang on the money with his assessment.

"Oh, so the great Gary Oak also professes to be a psychologist? You think you know me so well Oak?"

Gary stood up and leaned over the table so his face was barely inches away from Misty's and stared at her intensely. "I don't know you at all, _Misty_" he was seething, "but I know your situation, and I knew the look on your face when you drunk dialed me and I know the look on your face now. I've seen it on myself a thousand times before. I don't know what your problem was to get blind stinking drunk on your own in the first place, a fucking stupid move on your part by the way, but I know whatever it was is going to hit you like a ton of bricks very, very soon and you'll feel a thousand times worse. Forgive me for taking pity on you and thinking you might need some help getting through it. Clearly I was wrong". With that, Gary picked up the jacket he had placed over the back of the chair and walked away, leaving Misty stunned, speechless and overcome with an intense feeling of guilt.

She sat in quiet shock at the table, listening to Gary's footsteps echo throughout the halls and the eventual soft thud of the front door closing. Misty wanted to get up and find Gary again to apologise but she found herself glued to the spot and unable to move. Usually her pride would block these feelings out, or her ego would convince her she wasn't at fault to begin with. It had been a long time since anyone had every shown an interest in Misty and what she was feeling, and while she did appreciate the effort, the source of it boggled her. Of all the people in the world who could have offered her comfort and help when she herself would never admit she needed it, it was Gary Oak; the absolute asshole she only briefly spoken to the day before. _Was he being honest when he said he recognised the look on my face?_ Misty asked herself. She couldn't imagine him knowing the crippling loneliness she felt. Even Marina was only a friend she saw occasionally, maybe twice a month if she was lucky, and even her visits from Tracey had dried up, but she supposed she only had herself to blame for that. After so many years travelling with such close friends only to have the floor pulled out from under you, it hurt to come back to an empty Gym, and the knowledge that there was really only one or two people that she even spoke to on a regular basis (apart from Gym challengers, and the regular filthy perverts, of course) hurt. As a matter of fact, it hurt a lot.

After Marina had left the previous night, Misty had begun her pity party. She had a fridge well stocked with various beers (just in case friends ever stop by she had told herself) and for the first time; she had found the need to drink. And so she drank. She drank up to the point she forgot why she was drinking and then some. Hell, she drank to the point she thought it'd be a great idea to call Gary Oak. That was saying something.

Reluctantly, Misty ate the food before her. It was lukewarm at best, but her guilt at driving Gary away made her feel somewhat obligated to at least eat the food he had prepared. After a few more mouthfuls, she finally began to feel better; the pain in her head began to ebb slightly, and the feeling of nausea, while still there, wasn't anywhere near as bad as it had been. _He actually knew what he was talking about_. Gary's remark about knowing how she felt get her wondering just what was so awful about his life that he'd even find the need to drink outside of social situations. As far as Misty knew he was wealthy, too good looking for his own good, never short on female attention and very good at his work. Exactly what would he be attempting to drown out?

Misty pushed her half-finished plate away and sighed, holding her head in her hands and thinking of how best to confront Gary again, or if she even wanted to at all. It was clear that they couldn't get along very well, so why would she force the issue? She shook her head slowly, not wanting to aggravate the headache she was getting over, her eyes landing on the desk housing the video phone, male apparel draped all over it, and a bag of tools on the floor. Misty groaned, instantly recognising the clothes and tools as Gary's. She guessed she had made a big show of having them over the phone which must have been what made Gary come back.

Misty glanced upwards to the wall clock, reading that it was now 7.48am. Confusion washed over her, _The Gym opens at 7.30, and usually all the challengers are in by then, sitting in the waiting room. _She walked into the waiting room of the Gym and noticed it was empty, completely devoid of the usual overconfident wandering transients who flitted in first thing in the morning. _What the hell is going on? _As far as Misty knew, there was nothing of note going on today that might be distracting everyone. She walked over to the front door, opened it and leaned her head out, looking to see perhaps a street parade or marching band and the streets lined with excited citizens keeping her challengers at bay, but seeing nothing of the sort, although Gary's convertible was still parked out the front. Shrugging her shoulders, she turned to go back inside; noticing only then that the 'Closed' sign had been placed on the door. Since Misty knew she didn't put it there, there was only one other person who could have.

Turning back into the house, Misty quickly threw on a change of clothes, having changed into clean pajamas after her shower. She grabbed Gary's clothes, shoving them without much thought into a plastic bag, and the bag of tools, and walked out the door and proceeded down the street. Gary couldn't have gone too far after all.

**-XXX-**

Gary didn't drive home after leaving the Cerulean Gym. He couldn't. Even he was shocked with how bad he'd been shaking. Instead he had walked to a park not too far from the Gym. The park was a beautiful grassed area with colourful flowerbed around the perimeter and a lake filled with small Poliwag in the middle. By this time it was still only just past 7am so the city itself was completely bereft of people save for some who were coming and going to and from work, so Gary had this park all to himself. He sat down on a bench underneath a large shady tree and let out a sigh.

To say he had been unprepared for Misty's reaction to him would be a gross understatement. He had known Misty would most likely not greet him with open arms, but he hadn't expected to have his character and motives called into question. What was wrong with wanting to be nice? Gary knew that look on her face because he had seen it on his own countless times as he looked in the mirror every morning after sleeping with some random girl. He then came to the realisation that had it been him on the receiving end of such abrupt hospitality, he would not have magically opened up, neither would he have welcomed efforts to try and make him feel better, his pride wouldn't allow it. It was then that Gary realised that he and Misty were probably far more alike than either of them would care to admit. Suddenly he didn't blame Misty for how she acted, knowing full well he would have reacted the exact same way.

How long Gary sat on that bench staring at the lake he didn't know. He was aware of the sun climbing higher in the sky, and he noticed more and more people beginning to walk the streets. There were even a few people training in the park, many of which were giving their Pokemon inspirational pep talks, and that today would be the day that they would finally beat that ruthless, red haired she-devil. Gary smirked to himself, knowing he put the closed sign on the Gym door before he left. Battling was the last thing Misty would need right now.

It was nearing 8am before Gary checked his watch again, and he finally felt calm enough again to collect his car and drive home. As he was about to stand up, a voice behind him made him stop.

"Thought you would have gone farther"

Gary spun around and came face to face with Misty once more. She appeared to be in a better mood than before, and her eyes shone with remorse. He sat back down again, leaning back to look skywards.

"Yeah, well. I needed to calm down. It's peaceful here"

He didn't make to move as Misty walked to sit on the other side of the bench. She placed the bag of clothes and the tools in the middle of the seat.

"Thought you might want these back"

"Yeah. Thanks"

Words that needed to be said hung uncomfortably in the air. The awkward silence between them stretched on and on for an eternity before Misty finally gathered up her pride, took a deep breath, and said the words she had intended to say right from the outset.

"I'm sorry, Oak"

Gary snorted and smirked, turning slowly to face Misty who was still looking forward towards the gardens as though they were the most interesting things in the world. "Wow Red, didn't think you had it in you. And here I thought you were just as egotistical and prideful as yours truly"

Misty leaned over the bench to punch Gary in the shoulder. Not particularly hard, though. Gary wasn't sure if she was holding back or simply didn't have the strength to hit harder "I'm being serious!" She turned to face Gary and look him straight in the eye. "You were only trying to help, and Arceus knows I needed it, and I just threw it in your face so, I'm sorry"

Gary reached out a hand to pat her knee to which she immediately jerked away. Gary grinned as he bought his hand back. "There's nothing to be sorry for Red. I'm a smart guy, I should have realised you wouldn't want me there"

"Gary…" Misty sighed and leaned forward, holding her head in her hands once more. "It wasn't that I didn't want you there, I actually feel much better now thanks to you. I guess…" she struggled for the right words to say, "You threw me a little. I didn't expect anything from you, or anyone really, and you shocked me when you did what you did. I suppose I should really be saying thank you"

A small smile graced Gary's lips as he leaned back again, "You're welcome, Red"

"OK, seriously, why do you keep calling me that?"

Gary's voice lowered to just above a whisper, "That, _Red_, is a secret"

"Really?" Misty deadpanned.

The smile never left Gary's face, "I'll tell you…" he moved the bags between them and placed them on the ground. He moved to close the gap between them, stopping when his face was mere inches from hers, noses almost touching "…but only for a price" Misty could feel his warm breath tickle her face and could feel herself getting flustered, praying it wasn't obvious.

"What do you want?" Misty mentally congratulated herself on keeping it together and not stuttering like a fool like Marina had.

As suddenly as he had moved in, Gary pulled away, grinning. "I'd like to ask you some questions" he replied simply.

"What sort of questions?" Misty asked slowly.

"Why don't you let me ask them and you can find out?"

She sighed, defeated. "Fine, fire away."

Gary smirked at her "Shall we start with the easy question, the hard question or the other one?"

"Three questions? I'd better get to ask something too! Knowing the origin of my stupid nickname isn't worth three questions"

"Fine, you can ask three questions too, but only after I'm done"

"Thank you. As for your questions, I don't know…go with the hard one, might as well get it over with"

"Promise to answer truthfully?" Gary held a pinky finger towards her. Misty looked at it for a long while, before sighing and linking her own pinky with his. "Yes, Gary. I promise to answer truthfully".

Gary pulled his hand away and turned and looked right into her eyes, "Question number one; why were you drinking like that?"

Misty stiffened in place._ That's what I get for going with the hard question, _she thought to herself, before looking towards the ground, breathing deeply in and out, and giving the most honest answer she could give. "I was lonely"

Had she looked over at Gary she would have seen his eyes burning with sympathy. "And why, Red, are you lonely?"

"I don't know" she suddenly leaned back in the chair, looking to find shapes in the clouds. "I guess these past few months sort of caught up on me at once. I broke up with Ash and he left, as soon as I got back my sisters left. I only see Marina every now and then, and even Tracey won't come to visit anymore"

"In Tracey's defense, he said you terrified him"

"I know, I know. I was terrible to Tracey, but that's not the point I'm trying to make" She took another deep breath before continuing on. "I was so happy, you know? I was travelling, I was with my most favourite people in the world and all of a sudden, I didn't have it anymore. It was a huge adjustment, it still is. I'm trying hard to get used to it but…" Misty felt tears burning her eyes, "I guess I miss not having any friends around. Pokemon only count for so much, they're good company sometimes but it isn't what I need. Last night it just got to me, so I drank" Misty felt something warm land on her shoulder. She turned and saw it was Gary's hand, gripping her gently.

"I know what you mean"

Misty moved to wipe her tears away. "What do you mean?"

"I get lonely too" Gary shrugged.

"You, the Great Gary Oak, get lonely" Misty asked in disbelief.

Gary pulled his hand away and tried to look offended, "Is it so hard to believe?"

"Well…yes! You're wealthy, you're good looking – "

"You admit I'm good looking?" Gary eyed her with a satisfied smirk.

"That's beside the point" Misty said in a much higher tone of voice than she intended. Gary snorted derisively but allowed her to continue, "not to mention the female attention. Why on earth would you feel lonely?"

"If you really want to know, you can ask me when we're done here. I still have two more questions for you, you know" Gary said folding his arms.

"Can't I ask you a question first? We can take turns"

Gary shook his head, "Not part of the deal, Red. Wait 'til I'm done"

"Fine," Mist huffed. "Question number two, let's go"

"How did you get that scar on your leg? It's been bugging me"

Subconsciously Misty leaned forward and trailed a finger across the long scar on her lower leg, smiling slightly remembering how she got it. "That's an easy one. I scratched it on some coral"

"Elaborate, Red"

Sighing and smirking slightly, Misty pressed on, "Two years ago, the Gym came into some diving equipment. We've never had proper diving stuff, just the breathers we used for the water ballets, so I sort of ditched Ash and came home for a week and tried them all out by going out in the Cerulean Bay. If you go out far enough, you can find a large coral reef where heaps of water Pokemon live. So I took out a boat and decided to dive in there since I've never had the opportunity beyond snorkeling to see it; I thought diving would give me a new perspective and I'd be able to appreciate it more. As I was swimming, I saw a Mantyke. They're usually only found in Sinnoh and are pretty rare everywhere else" Gary nodded at this, "so naturally I thought it was the best find ever. I chased it for a while, and wasn't really paying much attention to anything else beyond catching the Mantyke. I wasn't wearing a full wetsuit so when I accidentally kicked against some coral and dragged forward, I pretty well gashed my leg open. I didn't actually know it had happened until I saw the blood in the water. Eventually I got out, and took the boat back to shore, got some stitches and was put on bed rest for the rest of the week. Never got to catch the damn Mantyke either which pissed me off more than anything else"

"What did you tell Ash?" Gary was curious.

"I told him the truth about the scar, but I never told him why I went back to Cerulean in the first place. I don't think I would have heard the end of it with his questioning if I had told him why"

"And why did you come back to Cerulean in the first place?"

"It was requested of me"

"And why was that?"

Misty's smirk broadened. "Lily needed someone to watch the Gym that night because it was her birthday"

Gary could feel the blood rush to his face. He couldn't recall the last time something had made him blush in such a manner. He could feel himself twitching and shifting in place uncomfortably, and his pulse skyrocketed to a point where he could feel the blood pounding in his ears. "Which brings me to question number three, though I'm pretty sure I have the answer; how did you know about me and Lily?"

Misty laughed at this question "You mean besides the shit ton of magazine articles telling the entire world? I was home, in the Gym at the time! I heard the whole sordid thing!

"I don't think either you or Lily were in any position to be thinking clearly, both drunk out of your minds and groping each other, but did either of you ever wonder why the door was unlocked? I left the door open, heard you both fumbling, looking for a thief that didn't exist. I was about to come down but then I heard you both…you know…" Misty trailed off, blushing, not knowing what else to say.

Gary couldn't help but feel shocked. He had assumed he and Lily were alone that night. The idea that Misty was there and had heard everything was…well, it went way beyond awkward! He could not recall a time where he felt more uncomfortable. "But how did you know it was me?"

"Well, I didn't at first, the magazines confirmed it, but I knew it was someone called Gary. My bedroom is right next to Lily's, so from midnight to when you did your dash, all I could here was 'Oh God, Gary, don't stop' and "Gary, you feel so good' on a loop all night. To your credit, you were pretty quiet, so thanks!"

Suddenly Gary went quiet, reflecting back on that night again with an inward groan. He hated thinking about that night. He knew what he went through after that night was, as nicely put as possible, rather unpleasant. For Lily though, it must have been a thousand times worse. Gary was only branded a player, whereas Lily had been branded a moron and then some. Gary didn't normally feel guilty for how he treated the women he slept with, since more often than not it was the women who pursued him, but Lily was an exception. Misty seemed to notice this melancholy wash over Gary, and said the only words she thought would help, "She was OK after, you know".

Gary looked up again, "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, it was pretty hard for her right after, she became a little reclusive and didn't talk much which was a huge change, but about 8 months later she met her fiancé and she's never been happier. And if you were wondering," she added with a smirk, "Daisy and Violet moved on pretty quickly too".

"You know about that too?" Gary was aghast.

Misty laughed, "They were talking a little louder than they intended which I'm sure you know _all _about," Gary cringed at that, "comparing notes on you, though I think Daisy's assessment of you was pretty harsh" Misty winked while Gary looked horrified, "I overheard, but they didn't tell me. Daisy married a wonderful man, with the patience of a saint I might add, three years ago, and has a one year old daughter. Violet hasn't settled down, but she's seen more of the world than I could ever hope to see, so you see," Misty nudged him lightly in his side with her elbow, "you didn't break them, in case you were wondering. They were all pretty pissed off after the Lily incident, but they forgave you, and so did I".

"Well!" Gary said a little loudly, adamant to get past this topic of conversation as quickly as possible. "I suppose I owe you now. Shoot. Choose your questions wisely"

"Oh, I think you know the first question, Gary" Misty leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand, "why are you lonely?"

"I guess…" Gary wasn't exactly sure what to say, "Women certainly appreciate that I'm a good looking, wealthy guy. I say that without arrogance, it's a fact" It was Misty's turn to snort, "but…" Gary trailed off, "they don't appreciate me"

That got Misty's attention. "What do you mean by that?"

"There is a lot more to me than what people think. Did you know that I play the piano? No, nobody does." Gary was starting to feel frustrated but continued. "No one has ever made an effort to get to know me. When they're with me, it's not about me as a person, it's about me, the hot, young researcher. It makes me feel like shit, yet I keep doing it to myself!"

Misty stared on as Gary stood up and paced for a moment before taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. Clearly this was quite the issue of conflict in Gary's life, and he didn't appear to want to discuss it further. Instead of continuing with this line of questioning, she decided to ask something she had always been curious about. "You were only ten when you started travelling to become a trainer, right?"

Gary stopped his pacing to look at Misty, an expression of confusion on his face. "More like eleven, why do you ask?"

"Well, Gary. I've always been very curious about that car of yours. Particularly how you came to have it and that you were inexplicably able to drive it at age ten."

Gary gave a small laugh before sitting back own on the bench, "I used to go joy-riding. Not in Cherry, of course – "

"Cherry?" asked Misty incredulously.

"So what, I named my car! Most guys do" Gary huffed indignantly before continuing on, "Gramps owns a huge portion of land behind the lab. Most people know about the ranch, but there is a lot more to it. It's sort of like an unofficial national park. My sister and I, and sometimes Ash when we were kids, used to take out an old bomb of a car out where no one could rat us out and just go nuts. I got the hang of driving pretty early. As for where the car came from," Gary paused for a moment and a small smile lit up his face, "it used to belong to my Dad".

This was a piece of information Misty did not expect. She knew a few sketchy details regarding Gary's parents from Ash but nobody seemed to know, or even wanted to know the whole story, and it would have been plain weird, not to mention incredibly insensitive to ask. All anybody seemed to know was that his mother died when Gary was five from a mystery illness, and his father died four months later. After that Gary and his older sister were taken in by their grandfather until he was old enough to leave on his journey. Misty did not believe it was her business to prod on the subject of his parents further, and opted instead to ask question number three. "OK, I agreed to your ridiculous terms. Now…" Misty stood up and moved right in front of Gary. "Why do you call me Red?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Gary laughed, "Your hair, your temper, because everything about you can be summed up with the colour Red. That's why!"

"WHAT?" Misty shrieked! "That's the only reason? And you made me jump through hoops to hear it? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Gary only continued to laugh, "Because you never would have told me the things you just did voluntarily, so I held something above your head. You're quite easy; I thought it would have taken more"

Misty crept closer and moved to punch Gary in the chest, only for Gary to intercept her hand with his and stand up, pulling her closer. They stayed in that position for a while, each staring into the others' eyes, neither feeling the awkwardness they knew they should feel. Eventually Gary pulled away and sat back down. "We should be friends" he said suddenly.

Misty couldn't help the combined look of shock and confusion from showing on her face and coming through in her voice. "What? Why on earth do you think that?"

"Because it sort of makes perfect sense" Gary turned himself so he faced Misty front on. "And I think we could both use a friend at the moment".

"…I don't know, Gary"

"Come on Red, live a little. I could be a lot of fun if you'd let me" Gary wiggled his eyebrows for added effect.

Misty giggled at this, "I don't doubt that."

"If it'll make you feel better, I'll make you a promise, right here and now" Gary got down on one knee in front of Misty and took her hand. Misty blushed furiously. To the passers-by who were gawking and pointing towards them, this would have looked completely different to what it was.

"And what promise would that be?"

Gary grinned, "I promise that I will never, ever, make a move on you"

Misty looked over at him with a mixture of amusement and disbelief on her face, "Really? You will never make a move on me, ever? Can it ever truly be done, Oak?"

"I always keep my promises Red, and I promise I will never hit on you. Unless you want me to"

"Unless I want you to? Why would I want that?" Misty asked, confused.

Gary winked, "You might, and you might not. But remember the option will always be there"

Misty laughed, "You've never really had a friend before, have you Oak?"

"Correction, I've never had a female friend before."

"And I've never had a complete and utter horn-bag for a friend before, not a male one anyway, so this should be interesting"

Gary smirked in triumph, paying no mind to the 'horn-bag' comment, "So you're on board, Red? I meant what I said; we could both use a friend at the moment, and I could be a good one, and I think you'd be a good one too"

Misty looked away for a moment in thought before delivering an answer she wasn't sure was the smartest, but for some reason, it felt like the right answer to give. "Yes" she said firmly but softly after the silence had passed. "I would like to be your friend."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN: **And there we have it until I update again! Might be a slightly longer wait than normal so hopefully this longish chapter makes up for it!

Yes, Gary plays the piano now. Is he not the sexiest thing ever?

By the way, I'm not a drinker so if my interpretation of a hangover was in fact WAY off I apologise!

A big thank you to everyone who has favourited and who is following this story, your support is very much appreciated :)

If you've got some time, flick a review my way! Reviews are the lifeblood of writers; if there aren't any reviews, we have no motivation to continue. Hope my hint was strong enough!

Happy New Year's to all! I hope you don't all end up like Misty tomorrow :)


	6. Chapter 5: Angel Cakes

Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had your New Years fun and that you all feel better now! I had more time than I thought to work on this chapter, so here it is!

**DISCLAIMER: **While I sit and swelter in the heat of another Australian summer, the true owner of Pokemon is no doubt living it up in some palatial, air-conditioned castle of a place. Dude is so bloody lucky on so many fronts. No, I don't own Pokemon. Or a decent air conditioner.

If I wasn't overly clear, Gary and Misty are around 22 years old

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 5: 'Angel Cakes'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

_"So you're on board, Red? I meant what I said; we could both use a friend at the moment. I could be a good one, and I think you'd be a good one too"_

_Misty looked away for a moment in thought before delivering an answer she wasn't sure was the smartest, but for some reason, it felt like the right answer to give. "Yes" she said firmly but softly after the silence had passed. "I would like to be your friend."_

**-XXX-**

Gary was very surprised at how different his life could be after finding someone to call a friend.

It was almost a month to the day after he made his proposal of friendship to Misty, and the change in both of them had been almost immediate. Neither felt the loneliness that had crippled them in the past as much as they had, and they were both happier and calmer as a result. Not to mention the fact that both Misty and Gary sincerely enjoyed spending time together; their similar personalities made them perfectly equipped to be friends with each other. Most believed their personalities would clash to the point of violence, but each knew exactly how to deal with the other. Each knew how to negate the other when one was being unreasonably stubborn or when the others' ego was taking up the room. It was a cliché, but they just clicked.

True to his word, Gary never made an attempt to hit on Misty. Even if he hadn't made the promise, he still wouldn't have felt the need to hit on her. Their situation was absolutely perfect how it was. Gary had never simply been friends with a woman before, and he was surprised at how oddly liberating it was to spend time with a woman with no pretense or agenda.

Which was why it pained Gary so much to know that his holiday time was almost up; he'd have to return to Sinnoh in a week.

Grocery bags in hand, Gary strode purposefully through the doors of the Cerulean Gym and headed for the kitchen. Since the day he and Misty had become friends, they made it a point to have breakfast with each other at least once a week. Depending on their schedules either Gary would come to Cerulean City and cook for her or Misty would come to Pallet Town to cook for him. Either way, Misty would always close the Gym for the day, something that delighted Gary to no end. He was used to women going out of their way for him, but Misty was sacrificing something important.

Neither would miss their standing breakfast not-a-date.

Placing the bags on the kitchen counter and unpacking their contents, Gary never heard Misty creep up behind him, placing her hands over his eyes in a playful manner.

"Guess who?" challenged Misty in a sing-song voice.

"Who else would it be, Red?" replied Gary, chuckling lightly.

Misty laughed and removed her hands, surveying the ingredients Gary had retrieved from the bags and lined up on the kitchen counter. "So what'll it be today?"

"Pancakes, mi' lady" Gary gave a little bow to which Misty giggled. "I've only ever made you a fry up and toasted you a bagel. Today I cook properly for you and if I do say so myself, you will be pleasantly surprised"

Misty jumped up to sit in the bench, "Why should I be more impressed with pancakes?"

Gary began to assemble his ingredients, pouring flour, milk and cracking eggs into a bowl and started whisking all the lumps out of the batter. "Because you never actually ate the fry up, and I burnt the bagels. Pancakes, on the other hand, are my main event. So soft and fluffy you'll cry. Scream, even"

Misty rolled her eyes, "Anything I can do to help?"

Gary gestured to a bag containing various fruits, "There are strawberries and bananas in that bag. You could cut them up and put them into bowls"

Misty hopped off the bench to grab a small knife. She couldn't help but giggle inwardly about the little domestic skit they appeared to be working on while they made their breakfast together. Pulling out the fruit, she noticed proper butter, maple syrup and a tub of whipped cream at the bottom of the bag, "Wow, you really went all out! And here all I did last week was make you an omelet"

Gary laughed, "You know breakfast isn't a competition, right?"

"And you know what we're like, right? Breakfast is very much a competition" replied Misty as she cut the fruit, "and right now, you're winning. I honestly fear what I'll have to pull out of the bag to top these pancakes if they're as good as you say they are"

"If you're open to suggestions, it's been years since I've had chocolate chip waffles" said Gary with a wink, "How do we determine the winner, anyway?"

"When one of us pulls something the other cannot possibly top" replied Misty simply.

"How will we know?"

"Trust me, we'll know"

"And what does the winner receive?"

Misty blinked and put down the knife, "Bragging rights, of course. Being able to say 'hey, remember when I kicked your ass at making breakfast?' whenever you want is way better than a trophy you we won't always be able carry around"

Gary began pouring the pancake batter onto the hot pan, grinning, "That's because you're a girl, and you're weak. Of course you wouldn't be able to carry the awesome breakfast trophy"

Misty's eyes widened at the tease. "I am too strong enough; I'm just classier than that"

Gary cocked an eyebrow and glanced over at her. "But you aren't above rubbing winning a breakfast contest I never agreed to in my face every chance you get?"

"Well…yeah" said Misty as though Gary were crazy.

"What are you, twelve? And why are you acting like you've already won? You know I'd kick your ass! I mean, _pancakes _woman! I have this in the bag and you on the ropes and you know it" As though to prove his point, Gary began to remove the cooked pancakes from the pan, piling small mounds of them onto waiting plates.

He passed a plate over to Misty who immediately leaned in to smell them, her eyes fluttering, letting out a long sigh. If Gary didn't know any better, he'd say Misty had just swooned over some pancakes.

"Oh my Arceus, Gary, I can see why these are your main event. They smell like concentrated joy in cake form"

Gary couldn't help the waves of laughter that caused him to double over clutching his stomach while Misty looked on, confused. "What the fuck? They're just pancakes, Red! And I'm pretty sure you just admitted defeat right there! Allow the proclamation to go forth: Misty Waterflower believes that the pancakes cooked by one super talented Gary Oak are, and I quote; 'concentrated joy in cake form'!"

Misty just rolled her eyes, immune to Gary's egotistical ramblings. "It ain't over yet, Oak". She nudged him with her elbow as she walked past him to the kitchen table where she sat down and watched Gary make several trips back and forth bringing with him all the various condiments and the chopped fruits for their pancakes to the table.

Both prepared their breakfasts in companionable silence, piling high fruits and syrup and whipped cream. Misty took one bite and moaned in happiness.

"Holy – I don't even know…these are incredible!"

Gary smirked in victory, "And she concedes defeat!"

Misty's eyes narrowed, but her expression softened once more after taking another bite, "No she does not, but I don't know I'm going to pull out my ass for next time"

"Its fine, you might not have to worry about it anyway" said Gary nonchalantly as he tried his own cooking, "Wow, you were right, these are awesome!"

Misty stared at Gary for a moment, confused, "What do you mean I won't have to worry about it? Don't think I can top you? 'Cause I will!"

Gary laughed at the challenge, "No, I mean my holidays are almost up. Can't have breakfast together when I'm in Sinnoh". He was so blunt in his delivery of this news that Misty wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"What? Seriously? But you just got here!"

"I know time must positively fly when you're in my company, and I'm sure it all probably feels like some crazy dream, but I've been back here for nearly six weeks. My time is up, baby!"

Gary went straight back to eating. Misty felt she had become quite good at reading him over the past month and could tell he was depressed at the prospect of having to return to his job, and was trying to mask his disappointment with sarcasm. While Misty didn't believe that she was the only reason he was so reluctant to return to work, she was touched all the same.

"When do you have to leave?" she asked quietly, her own disappointment evident. She didn't try to hide it like Gary did.

"I have to be back by mid next week. Don't really understand why, though. I mean, it is _my_ research after all. But I'm sure we can meet up and do this again before I have to go. You'll have your opportunity to top these pancakes, or should I say these angel cakes, though I don't hold high hopes for you."

Misty put down her knife and fork and looked over at Gary across the table, still happily shoving food into his mouth.

"What is this to you Oak?" she asked curiously.

"What's what to me?" Gary asked through a mouthful of pancakes and fruit.

"This!" she threw her arms around, gesturing at the food and their surroundings, "This whole breakfast thing! I'm not saying I don't enjoy it, but what do we call it? Saying it's a 'standing arrangement' makes it sound stupid, and it's certainly not a date."

"It's kind of a date" said Gary quietly, wiping maple syrup off his chin.

"WHAT? I clearly remember you promising me that you'd never hit on me, and what, now you're putting the moves on me? Oh Arceus, is this how it starts?" Misty sighed and rested her head in her hand, looking over at Gary with a half horrified expression on her face.

"I'm pretty sure two friends can have a once a week breakfast date without it leading to sex and pregnancy and whatever else you're thinking of, Red" replied Gary dryly. "And besides, if I was putting the moves on you, you'd know"

Misty snorted, "You sound awfully sure of yourself"

"And with good reason! It may have been a while, but I'm still very appreciative, not to mention knowledgeable of the process of making a woman feel wanted and desirable."

"Oh please, you're probably so out of practice right now, watching you try to seduce a woman would be a hilarious sight to behold!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe it is and maybe it isn't"

"Well, whatever. Think what you like; I bet I can still seduce a woman!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"FINE!"

Gary threw down his cutlery and pulled his chair around the other side of table and sat so he was sitting very close to Misty and put a hand to her cheek, caressing the soft skin gently, tracing his way down her cheek to her jawline and neck, staring right into her eyes. He slowly moved closer and closer, both closing their eyes until Gary was less than a centimeter away from her lips –

"What the hell was that? Those are the moves?" Misty and Gary both erupted into fits of laugher.

"You were up for it Red, don't kid yourself" With a wink Gary picked up his chair once more and moved back to his original spot.

"So that's what women the world over fall for, huh?" mused Misty picking up her fork again, "I'll be honest; I was expecting something a little more impressive! Fireworks of some sort"

Gary grinned, "I don't have to break out the moves very often. Mostly its women trying their moves on me, but trust me; the moves work when they need to"

Misty cocked her head and asked what she believed to be the million dollar question; "Will you go back to that life?"

"What do you mean?" Gary looked up once more.

"I mean, you once told me that you felt as though the women you took home didn't appreciate you or make an effort to get to know you, only try to make a mad claim for your status. Are you going to keep doing that to yourself? You've changed so much in the past few weeks; I don't want to see you so…brooding again"

Gary stopped eating for a moment, and looked to be deep in thought. He honestly hadn't thought about what might happen in terms of his not-so-personal life when he returned to Sinnoh. If he really thought about it, no, he wouldn't. He would never admit this to her face, but Gary felt oddly fulfilled with his friendship with Misty; a girl who had made a conscious effort to get to know him, and who he genuinely enjoyed spending time with. He wasn't sure he felt the need to continue sleeping with random women. For the first time in two years, Gary felt happy again. This was what he had been looking for; what that meant, he didn't know.

"Probably not, but I can't say for sure. I am Gary Oak after all, I can't guarantee what the ladies will pull to spend even five minutes with me" he smirked, sounding for all the world like the arrogant jerk Misty met all those years ago.

Misty rolled her eyes and giggled, "You're impossible, Oak"

"And you wouldn't have me any other way, Red" he winked and they both laughed, and continued eating their breakfast in silence.

**-XXX-**

After Gary had left later that morning, Misty began the tiring task of training her Gym Pokemon. She hated to admit it, but since she and Gary had become friends, Misty had become a little lax with her duties. Fortunately Marina, who thrilled Misty by visiting that day, was also an accomplished water trainer and was able to help out by facing Misty in some mock battles, though not before being her usual gossipy self, demanding information on any and every topic in Misty's personal life. Misty should have known her offer to help was too good to be true.

Marina moved around often for her job as a lecturer to various Pokemon schools and colleges, so Misty wasn't able to call her very often. Last time Misty had such an occasion to call two weeks ago, Marina had seen Gary walking in the background towards the door. Naturally, this filled Marina with an almost perverted sense of glee; and a twinge of envy too. Her friend was for far too long hung up on what that stupid Ash Ketchum was up to, and now she appeared to be moving on! With a ridiculously good looking, wealthy researcher, no less!

Misty had never had many close female friends that she wasn't immediately separated from, and she wasn't especially close to her sisters, so Marina's eagerness to know everything was somewhat terrifying, but she didn't have the heart to tell her to back off as she wanted to. She also wasn't all that used to talking to anyone else about boys or anything of a girly nature to anyone or anything except the journal she kept until she turned fifteen. Marina, however, wasn't too concerned with how comfortable Misty may or may not be and she never would be. Tact was not her strong suite. As soon as she walked through the Gym doors early that afternoon, she tackled Misty in a huge hug and pushed her down onto the sofa and sat (or rather, fell) down next to her. Wasting no time with pleasantries and small talk, Marina launched into a line of questioning which made Misty feel as though she'd much rather chew glass than give an answer to.

"ARE YOU SLEEPING WITH THAT OAK GUY?" Marina clearly had no idea what an 'indoor voice' was. Her shriek reverberated around the Gym, causing Misty to flinch.

"WHAT?" Misty furiously, her cheeks now matching her hair, "No, of course I'm not sleeping with him!"

Marina ignored her friends' embarrassment, "No, of course not. With a guy like that, you aren't doing much sleeping at all, are you?"

If possible, Misty became even redder at that comment and did something that didn't come too often to her; she stuttered, "I-I, um…I'm n-not sleeping…that is to say… Oh Arceus, no Marina, just no"

"But he was having breakfast with you! In the morning! You expect me to believe he didn't spend the night here?"

Misty squeezed her eyes shut and held her head in her hands, "He didn't! We just have breakfast every now and then! Once more Marina, I'm not having sex with the guy! I've only really known him a month!"

Marina sighed, "That is a bummer. If it were me – "

"We all know what would be happening if it were you, Marina" said Misty dryly.

Marina rolled her eyes, ignoring the comment, "You cannot possibly tell me that you aren't the least bit tempted. Ash was cute, but this guy blows him out of the water. You aren't that blind, are you?"

"He's a friend, Marina. Yes, a very, _very_ good looking one, but just a friend." Misty decided not to mention Gary's promise not to hit on her unless she wanted it. It was something Marina would surely want to hear, but Misty didn't want to share it with anyone.

Marina sighed quietly and eyed Misty, moving closer as though to scrutinize every feature of her face, "You seem different. I thought so last time you phoned me too. You seem…happier, calmer, I guess. And you haven't launched into any tirades about 'that prick Ash and that slut May' lately either. Don't get me wrong, it's a good thing, great even, but why the sudden change?"

Misty sighed and thought for a moment; she knew exactly why she was happier, and who was responsible for it. "I guess I realised what's important. I don't want to focus on stupid things like Ash and what he's doing or my stupid touring sisters and their happy little lives. I want to focus on my life; I want to make it better. I guess when I worked that out it all clicked for me." It wasn't entirely a lie, in fact it wasn't a lie at all; these were thoughts that Misty had, but she knew Gary took a lot of the credit for the change too.

"So it has nothing to do with sleeping with a certain good looking researcher? Nothing at all?"

Misty's lip twitched upwards into a little smile as she thought back on the breakfast of that morning, "I suppose he's a little part of it – " Marina grinned victoriously, "But he's just a friend! How many times do I have to repeat it? Once again woman, I'm not sleeping with him!"

Marina huffed, disappointed with her silly friend, "Whatever. You should be though."

Misty giggled; her friend certainly had a one track mind. "Can we just drop it? You did agree to help with my training today; there aren't a lot of people I trust with that."

Marina sighed, annoyed, "Yeah, I suppose I did, but you owe me missy! I don't come here often, so next time I'm over, we're going shopping! And not another pissy grocery shopping trip like you tricked me into last time; I mean a full on, oh-my-Arceus-my-legs-are-about-to-fall-off trip to the mall."

Misty cringed at the prospect. She was not a shopper, and tended to avoid the local mall as though it was full of disease-ridden Beedrill. And even on that grocery trip, Marina had been rabid; spending more money on grocery store cosmetics and chocolate than Misty did on two weeks' worth of household supplies, toiletries and food. However, Misty couldn't say no; she missed Marina dearly after all, "Fine," she huffed, rolling her eyes playfully, "we'll go to the stupid mall next time."

Marina squealed happily and clapped, looking and acting like an overgrown five year old. Misty could only laugh at her friends' antics before grabbing her elbow and pulling her off the sofa and dragging her towards the pool reserved exclusively for water battles.

"Now we see if you're as good as they say you are!" said Marina in a challenging tone.

"What, don't you think I've earned my reputation?" asked Misty in mock horror. "They call me a fire breathing dragon, you know!"

"Not so sure that's a good thing Misty!"

Exchanging a grin and a defiant look of challenge between them, each girl walked to their respective place to begin the battle.

Misty stood on a platform on one side of the pool and called out her Azumarill, long evolved from the Azurill she received all those years ago from Tracey. As much as Misty loved the Azurill when she was given it; she had to admit it made her feel slightly awkward to accept it. She knew Tracey had a crush on her when he gave it to her. Marina stood on the opposing platform and called out her Golduck. Both girls stared at each other playfully before launching into their respective attacks.

"Aqua Jet, Azumarill!"

"Psychic, Golduck!"

The two attacks met in the middle of the water arena and exploded in a colourful, sparkling cloud. Both Misty and Marina stood admiring the beauty of the scene for a moment before calling their next moves.

"Jump in the water Azumarill! Use a Rollout to build up speed!"

"Golduck, use Whirlpool! Disturb the water and stop Azumarill from gaining speed!"

The whirlpool attack created swirling vortexes of water throughout the pool. Misty smirked. As the leader of a water-type Gym, these were exactly the types of moves she trained her Pokemon to create and counter. She watched her Azumarill gracefully and expertly maneuver around the whirlpools, gradually becoming faster and faster in the water.

"Azumarill, jump out of the water and hit Golduck with a Waterfall!"

"Dodge it, Golduck! Hit it with an Ice Beam!"

"Quickly, Azumarill! Aim a flat Water Gun attack at the Ice Beam!"

Not typically a fast Pokemon, Misty had trained her Azumarill to use its moves, the arena and opponents attacks to its advantage, which is exactly what it was doing now; The Water Gun, aimed to come out flat and wide across the water was frozen by the Ice Beam, creating a frozen surface for Azumarill to slide across on its stomach. Azumarill threw itself onto the icy runway, gathering up incredible speed not even Golduck would be able to outrun.

"Get in close and use Superpower, Azumarill!"

"Dodge it, Golduck!"

It was futile. Golduck couldn't possibly get away in time. As soon as it was within close range, Azumarill launched an incredible Superpower attack, inflicting a great deal of damage on its target at close range. Stumbling, Golduck stood back up, legs wobbling wildly. Azumarill, however, was upright on its own platform, awaiting its next orders.

Misty was observing the scene with all the calmness expected of such a highly ranked Gym Leader. She had been in this situation many times before; if this had been an actual battle and not a practice bout, she wouldn't have been surprised if Marina had opted to defiantly continue, even with Golduck in the state it was in. Luckily, Marina had some degree of common sense that the young, brash trainers Misty usually faced lacked.

"Golduck, return" she held out the Pokeball and waited for the red beam of light to return. "You tried your best" she whispered against the ball before placing it back in her bag. Standing upright again, she called to Misty, "You, missy, have gotten so much better! Last time I fought you, you could barely get a move in edgeways, especially against Golduck! What the hell have you been feeding that Azumarill anyway?"

Misty smirked and hopped off the platform, coming around to meet Marina by the side of the pool. She loved receiving compliments for her Pokemon; it made her feel as though she was doing something right, not to mention it blew up her ego like nothing else. "The blend of an old friend" she answered cryptically. "Besides, it's not much to do with food; we just train for every possible scenario. I have counters for pretty much everything."

"Maybe you _do _deserve that dragon reputation of yours" Marina said thoughtfully. "Golduck always was my strongest, but we could barely get a move in; Azumarill was so damn fast!"

"Azumarill in general usually aren't fast. I can't always have the speed advantage, but when you called for an Ice Beam I just went for it. Thankfully it worked"

"Well, I don't think I'll be putting myself through that again" Marina laughed, "Maybe you could train with that Oak guy!" she added excitedly.

"He's a researcher, not a trainer. Besides, he doesn't come here for that"

"Well, what does he come for then?" Marina suddenly sounded exasperated, making Misty shrink back slightly, "You say you're just friends, but you can't deny that your situation with him is a little strange. That day when I visited last month, you didn't want anything to do with him, now you have breakfast with him when the occasion calls for it! You can't tell me there isn't something, _anything_, there!"

Misty wasn't sure how to answer. She had come to value her friendship with Gary, not more so than she valued Marinas', but in an entirely different way. When she was with Gary she felt…comfortable. She had a lot of fun with him too, and had come to truly look forward to the time they spent together, but that didn't _mean _anything, right? Misty realised she had been staring into space silently for a full minute. She blushed slightly at the thought that she spaced out thinking about Gary.

"For the last time Marina, we're just friends. And besides, he leaves next week to go back to Sinnoh. Now can you please just let it go?"

Misty guessed she must not have hidden her disappointment at this fact well enough. Marina sighed loudly and replied, "The way you just said that, and the look in your eyes; you like him a little" With that, she turned on her heel and walked back to the living quarters of the Gym, leaving Misty standing by the pool in stunned silence.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN: **I admit it; this chapter was mostly filler and getting some feels out there.

The battle, honestly I was pretty much made it up as I went along, so sorry if it's dodgy! Unless you guys want me to for whatever reason, I probably won't make a habit of dropping them in the story!

In case no one noticed, I'm pretty hard up for some pancakes right now! Also with whipped cream, syrup and banana…oh God I need to go to the shops…

And review, people! Reviews keep writers motivated and happy so please leave one! This is only my first fic and I really need to know how I'm doing!


	7. Chapter 6: Smell Ya Later

Hello everyone! None of my favourite stories have been updating as of late, so I got this one done for you all! Hope you enjoy! It's a little more…I don't know how to describe it, but it's a little different to the previous chapters. Funny how a story can end up in an entirely different place to where it started!

**DISCLAIMER: **No, I don't own Pokemon. Was there anyone reading who honestly thought I did? Get your head out of your ass.

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 6: 'Smell Ya Later'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

The day before he was due to return to Sinnoh, Gary opted to spend the day at home in Pallet Town, enjoying his last day of freedom with his grandfather and Delia. Oh, and Tracey.

He woke up that morning with a groan, overcome with that depressing feeling that accompanies the end of that joyful feeling of knowing he could be doing whatever the hell he wanted and the resumption of work. Even Gary was surprised he felt so miserable about the whole situation; he loved his job, he was great at his job, it was something he had worked towards for years! There was no real good reason why he shouldn't feel at least a little bit happy at the prospect of going returning.

Gary knew some of the disappointment he felt was attributed to his growing friendship with Misty. Some of it was the fact that he hadn't been home in Pallet Town in some years. He had reconnected with grandfather after years of merely communicating over the phone, and he had become better acquainted with Delia, knowing her as a mother figure now more than ever. Even getting to know Tracey better had been a wise decision. Even though it felt like he was holding something back, Gary no longer viewed him as the balls-less tool he had long ago dismissed him to be.

Throwing the blankets off his body, Gary sat up and stretched, taking in every facet of his room before flopping back down again, knowing that after he went back to Sinnoh, it would be a while before he came back. The walls were lines with reminders of his childhood; plush toys, books, his badge collections from his trainer days, everything reminding him of a more innocent time in his life. Eventually his eyes fell on the only photograph he kept in his room; a family photo from when Gary was three years old. He allowed himself to smile; everyone looked so happy in that picture, taken when the family spent their holidays one year in Goldenrod City. Sure, Gary was very well aware of the sort of child he was, arrogant and attention seeking to a fault, but it didn't detract from the fact that he had a very fun early childhood. Up until a certain point, that is.

Before his parents passed away, Gary was not at all arrogant or attention seeking; as the youngest child in his family, attention was positively laved upon him, particularly from his mother and doting older sister, to the point that little Gary found the touchy-feely nonsense to be rather annoying. At least his father was cool and didn't try incessantly to hug and kiss him. However annoying he may have found it as a 4 year old, it made the young boy happy and content; it was very nice to be loved, after all.

There was a certain point shortly after Gary turned four. He only remembered bits and pieces of the time, but his most vivid memory was of his mother progressively becoming sicker and sicker and weaker as time passed on, but he was never able to understand why. Whenever he had asked he was met with the same answer; "Mummy's sick right now, but she'll get better soon". Gary was only a small child, but even he knew something was terribly wrong. And then everything changed.

After being told of his mothers' passing from terminal cancer the following year, Gary didn't understand what was happening. His father was completely and utterly heartbroken; his sister wouldn't stop crying, and his grandfather was struggling to come to terms with the death of his daughter. It didn't help Gary's case at all that he strongly resembled his mother, inheriting her cinnamon coloured hair and bright green eyes, and that no one seemed to want to look him in the eye. Eventually it was an aunt who sat down with Gary, explaining to him what his father could not; that his mother was sick and had been for a while, but that she wasn't sick anymore, and she was happily living in the sky now. Gary could only comprehend as much as his five year old brain would let him. On one hand, he was happy his mother was better now. But on the other hand, he was angry. Why did his mother leave him with people who didn't want to look at him or talk to him?

Around 4 months after his mothers' funeral, Gary and his sister were shipped off to stay with their grandfather for a week. Their father was still struggling with the death of his wife; the only woman he had ever loved and the mother of his children, and had decided to travel to somewhere quiet and secluded to try and think everything through. He had become better with Gary by this time; initially he could barely stand to look at his son. Before he left, he talked to Gary and his sister, explaining why he was going.

**FLASHBACK – 17 YEARS AGO**

"_Where're you gonna go, Daddy?" asked May in a slightly squeaky voice._

_Their father looked at them with a tiny smile, tears threatening to fall from his eyes, "I have to go away for a while, guys. But don't worry; your grandfather will take good care of while I'm gone"._

_Gary was shifting uncomfortably in place, annoyed. His mother already left, why was his father? "When are you gonna come back?" he asked in a tiny voice._

_His father sighed and kneeled down so he was face to face with his son, looking into the eyes that, although he hated to admit it, now broke his heart. "I'm only going to be gone for a week, Gary. You two can be a good for that long, can't you?" he asked, looking over at May as well._

_Gary and May nodded quickly, happy that they might be able to do something to make their father pleased with them. Gary in particular could only notice the way his father was holding him at arm's length as of late and, as annoyed as he was, he just wanted to make his Dad happy again._

_Their father closed the gap between them, taking the two children in his arms and holding them for all he was worth, losing the battle against his tears as they fell down his face. Drawing back after a moment, he took a hold of May's hand and leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek. Standing up, he picked up the suitcase that was sitting by his side. With his free hand, he tousled Gary's hair, which even at this age fell in wild, unmanageable spikes. "Smell ya later, Gary" he whispered softly so only Gary could hear him. Gary's heart lifted; his Dad only said that when he was teasing him… and his Dad was always happy when he was teasing him, right?_

_Gary and May watched their father walk towards the ever familiar cherry red convertible and climb in, turning on the ignition, waving at them as he pulled the car out of the driveway and down the street, neither child realising that they would never see their father again._

_Another month went by without a word. Gary and May were having fun on their grandfathers' Pokemon ranch, but they were painfully aware that their father had yet to return, even after promising that he'd only be gone a week. May, being older and more intuitive, felt that something was very wrong with the situation; it was very unlike their father to just up and leave without a word. Gary, being as young as he was, couldn't help but think that maybe he drove his father away somehow._

_Another week went by before they received the phone call early one Saturday morning where the kids were up watching early morning cartoons__.__ Professor Oak answered the phone and immediately paled, turning to the children laughing innocently at the television with an ashen look on his face. The body of Gary's father had been recovered from the river that separates Ecruteak City and Mahogany Town at the base of Mt Mortar in the Johto region. What was more suspicious was that the local police and coroner had already established that it was in fact not drowning that caused his death; he was dead before he hit the water, but there were no outward signs to indicate what may have caused it._

_Professor Oak knew what had happened; his son-in-law was a perfectly healthy man with no health complications. The only conclusion he could draw was that he had died of a broken heart. Everyone who knew the Oak couple knew that they were very much in love, and hardly ever spent any time apart from each other. Simply put, he wasn't able to continue after his wife died._

Haven't these kids been through enough?_ Professor Oak had no idea whatsoever how he was going to break this news to them, especially when they themselves were still getting over their mother. Voice cracking, he called the children over to him and bent down on one knee so he was at their level, watching their hearts break though their eyes as he quietly told them what had happened._

_May kept to herself afterwards. She didn't have any friends in Pallet Town, and she had never shown any interest in leaving on her own journey so she stayed on, often helping her grandfather in the labs__._

_Gary, contrary to what his family thought might happen, acted out. He became quite the attention seeking brat now that there were no adults around to permanently dote on him and spend time with him. Often his grandfather could keep him distracted from whatever havoc the young boy may wreak by allowing him to play with the baby starter Pokemon, but even that didn't always work. Deep down though, little Gary was heartbroken. He missed his parents dearly, he missed their family home in Saffron City, and he missed the friends he had there._

_**2 weeks later…**_

_One beautiful, sunny morning, Gary was outside, playing with and feeding the starter Pokemon. He sat on the soft grass, smiling lightly as he watched the little Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander play amongst themselves; he didn't notice the black haired young boy, around his age, walk up to the fence and start staring__._

"_Whoa, are those the baby starters?" asked the young b__oy in wonderment, his voice squeaking._

_Gary's head snapped up suddenly at the intruder. "Yeah, they are. My gramps said I could play with them"_

_At this the black haired boys' eyes widened. "Is Professor Oak your Grandfather?" as Gary nodded, the boy went into overdrive, "That is SO cool! He's like, my hero! Wow, it must be so awesome to live with him…."_

_Gary just stared as the boy continued to speak. He found this boy to be, well, kind of annoying. He didn't seem to have an off switch; he just kept talking and talking. Gary became distracted when he noticed the Charmander walk over to the fence, staring up at the other boy with so much wonderment in its eyes. _

"_Charmander, come back he – "_

"_Oh cool! A Charmander!"_

_The boy was rather enamored, climbing over the fence to get a better look at the little fire breather. While the Charmander seemed delighted at the prospect of a new friend, Gary was horrified._

"_What are you doing? Why did you climb over? My gramps will kill me!" Gary was in a state of panic._

"_Relax" said the other boy, holding out his hand to pet the Charmander lovingly, "When I'm old enough, I want a Charmander" said the boy wistfully._

"_Well I guess I'll just have to pick the Squirtle then" muttered Gary under his breath._

"_GARY!" A loud yell sounded over the yard. Gary cringed before realising that this voice didn't sound angry at all. In fact, he actually sounded somewhat pleased._

"_Gramps, I promise, I didn't – "_

"_Nonsense Gary!" his grandfather dismissed whatever he was going to say with a wave of his hand. He had been worried about his grandson, not making friends with anyone or anything besides the Pokemon and only ever talking to his sister. "Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"_

_Gary was confused. Not only because his grandfather wasn't at all angry, but also because he had no idea what this kids' name was. "Umm…"_

_The young boy leapt forward, his eyes full of admiration and respect now that his idol was standing in front of him, "Wow, Professor Oak, you're my hero!"_

_Professor Oak merely chuckled, "Thank you, young man. But what's your name?"_

"_I'm Ash Ketchum, sir. I love with my mum over in that house over there" he turned and pointed to a house not too far away, white with a red roof._

_As the boy, now known as Ash, babbled on amiably to his grandfather, Gary couldn't help the sinking feeling that settled itself in the pit of his stomach. He wouldn't ever be able to get rid of this kid, would he?_

**END OF FLASHBACK**

Gary had mixed feelings about that time in his life. His Grandfather had actually gone off with young Ash to meet his mother, beginning the relationship which resulted in marriage nearly eighteen years later, setting up all manner of, as Delia called them, 'play dates'. Sure, Ash was, to put it lightly, an idiot child, but Gary did see it as distraction from everything else in his life though whether it was welcome or not he wasn't sure.

Over the years, a competitive streak emerged from both children. Gary laughed to himself as he remembered the stupid dares he and Ash often inflicted upon one another, both going through with whatever torment the other deemed necessary because neither would give in. Gary usually won though, but whether it was because he cheated, legitimately won, Ash's absolute denseness and trusting or some potent combination of the three he didn't remember.

Slowly, Gary came back down to earth, opening his eyes once more. Sighing, he pushed himself back up and stood to stretch. Walking over the photograph of his parents and sister, he picked it, taking in just how happy everyone in the picture looked at the time. Turning to leave, Gary smiled and placed the picture in his suitcase before walking out to the adjoining bathroom.

**-XXX-**

After throwing a plain white shirt on over his black boxers, Gary walked down the stairs, past the living area where he saw Delia sitting on the sofa on her own. She seemed to be lost in a world of her making, deep in thought. As long as he had known her, she only ever had that look on her face when she was concerned about Ash.

Cautiously, Gary sat himself down beside her, careful not to startle her. Upon noticing him, Delia jumped, placing a hand over her chest to calm herself.

"My goodness Gary, you scared me!"

Gary smiled sheepishly; he hadn't intended to scare her like that, she looked flustered and was still breathing deeply.

"You thinking about Ash?" he asked quietly.

Delia took a deep breath in, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears, "I know he's 21 now, but I can't help but worry, and he hasn't called in a while." She gave Gary a small smile.

Gary knew he had always been a little harsh in his assessment of his rival, mostly because their rivalry was so deep seeded, starting when they were five and never wavering in its intensity. It was hard to suddenly change your mind about something that had always been a part of you, and Gary knew Ash felt the same way.

He placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her soft shaking. "Ash is very capable, Delia. I don't think you need to worry too much about him"

She flashed a wry smile, "I'm a mother, Gary; I can't help but worry about him. I'll even worry about you when you leave tomorrow", she gave a smile of such complete and utter sincerity that Gary couldn't help but feel incredibly touched.

"I never thanked you properly for that did I?"

"Thank me? For what?"

"For everything." Gary took a deep breath before continuing. This sort of thing didn't come very easily to him. "When we first met, I wasn't in a very good place. I just wanted to tell you now that I really appreciate everything you did for me when I was a kid. I never told you then, but now I want to say that it meant the world to me, so thank you"

Gary turned back to Delia, noticing that she was now crying. Gary wasn't good with tears. "Oh no, I didn't say that to make you sad, Delia, I'm sor – "

Gary didn't have the opportunity to finish that sentence as Delia pulled him into a tight hug. "You're very welcome Gary" she whispered softly.

Neither of them noticed Professor Oak standing in the entrance, watching the scene in front of him unfold with tears in his own eyes.

**-XXX-**

Later that day, Gary met Tracey in the labs; there was some equipment he needed to bring back with him. Gary's lab was adequate, but there were many items he needed that they were lacking, and since his research was self-funded, there wasn't always enough money to upgrade.

They packed what was needed in uncomfortable silence. Tracey still harboured a crush on Misty, as he had done for many years, and felt an unreasonable degree of animosity to his mentors' grandson, which he knew was absurd, for seemingly monopolizing her time. Misty had called a few weeks back apologising for her outbursts towards him in the past, and Tracey had been euphoric to hear it, but every time he offered to visit, he was shot down; Gary was always there.

In all fairness, Gary had only been over to Cerulean City three, maybe four times tops in the past month, not really all that often, but Tracey couldn't quite help the admittedly completely irrational feeling that he was being usurped. In the past, Misty had always come to him for help in the Gym, called him for advice, but now whenever she called, it was always to talk to Gary. He even resented the fact that Misty closed the Gym for Gary, something she had never done for him.

Tracey was painfully aware that his feelings weren't reciprocated. In some way that wasn't even the issue, he just felt special that Misty even considered him a friend, but on some weird level he couldn't help but feel entitled; he had known Misty way longer than Gary after all.

Tracey was known as Pokemon Watcher and, as a general rule, he was very observant. Over the past week he had noticed that Gary had made a conscious effort to get to know him a little better, and Tracey couldn't help but think that Misty was the reason. Since he had first volunteered to go to the Cerulean Gym to help with the repairs, Gary had seemed different; at first it was that he was aloof and distant, but after that, it seemed that he was actually happy. Tracey had answered many calls from Gary for his grandfather and no matter the circumstance, Gary never looked too pleased with anything and always seemed rather detatched, but now everything was different, and the only difference in Gary's life was Misty.

"Can I take these?" Gary's voice cut through Tracey's little reverie. He looked up to see Gary holding up a number of large beakers.

"Umm…" Tracey was a little more out of it than he thought. He shook his head to gather his wits, "Yeah, we have heaps of those in storage; you're welcome to take them"

Gary grinned with all the delight of a scientist finding new equipment and wrapped the delicate glassware up in bubble wrap. "Thanks, these sizes are hard to come by."

Tracey sat for a moment, watching Gary sort through other assorted lab items, writing down random pieces of information in an open notebook beside him. Tracey watched everything, from the way he held his pen, to the way he brushed the bangs out of his face with his hands, wondering what he had that Tracey didn't.

"What are your intentions with Misty?" he asked suddenly.

Gary stopped what he was doing and froze. "What do you mean by that?" he asked curtly.

Tracey swiveled around on his chair and looked Gary dead in the eye. "I mean, you have been acting so different since you came back, and the only difference is Misty. What the hell do you have planned for her? Is she going to be _another_ notch on your bedpost? Are you going to _break her heart_ like you do _every other woman_ who falls into your grasp? Are you going to _screw her_ and – "

Tracey was cut off suddenly by the sound of breaking glass. Gary had gripped the beaker so hard it smashed in his hand, sending shards of shattered glass all across the room and causing a myriad of bleeding cuts to appear on his hand. That didn't stop Gary from covering the distance between them in two great strides, seizing Tracey by the collar of his shirt and pulling him to his feet. The look on Gary's face was one of pure, unadulterated anger.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?" Gary was beyond caring about the neighbours, yelling for all he was worth.

"RIGHT NOW YOU'RE MY PROBLEM OAK! I know who you are and I know you're only out to hurt one of my best friends" he spat out the last two words laced with so much bitterness.

Gary laughed, but it was dark and void of humour. "Best friends; is that what this is about? Are you jealous, Sketchit?"

"Oh please," Tracey muttered, "That isn't the issue. I won't see you destroy Misty!"

"How is this _any _of your business? Besides, why do you think I'm going to 'destroy' her?"

Tracey chuckled darkly, "Your past doesn't exactly work in your favour, Oak. What the hell am I meant to think when you pick up some new chick?"

Gary shoved Tracey back. Hard. "First off, you fucking asshole, Misty is NOT just 'some new chick'. Those are your words, not mine. And secondly, why would you assume that I don't like her?"

"DOES LIKING HER HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS? Liking her is hardly the point. You could be drawing her in, making her like you to wreck her even more – "

Tracey was cut off once more, but this time from a solid punch to the face. Clutching a hand to his throbbing cheek, feeling the split lip, it took a moment for it to register in Tracey's mind that Gary had punched him.

Gary was oddly calm despite everything that was said. In an even voice, still spiked with something going way beyond anger that Tracey didn't quite understand, he replied "You don't know me at all. And you clearly don't know Misty at all either." And with that, he grabbed the equipment he could carry and walked out of the lab, leaving a stunned Tracey lying on the floor in shock.

**-XXX-**

The following morning, Gary was making last minute preparations before he was due to leave. He had to be at the Viridian City airport by midday to catch his 2pm flight back to Sinnoh. He was distracted, though. He had called Misty last night after that…incident with Tracey, having felt the overwhelming urge to speak to her. She had reassured him she would be there the next day to see him off and since it was her coming to him, she would owe him breakfast. Despite Gary's protestations that he wouldn't have any time, Misty merely winked at him, saying she had it all under control.

It was now 11.30am, and Misty still hadn't arrived. Gary was in a state of almost-panic, not at all used to this reaction to a woman, and couldn't help but imagine every worst case scenario from playing out in his mind. He pictured her in car accidents, being ambushed by something or someone while driving through the forest, that Ash had magically come back and whisked her away in a shower of rainbows and fairy dust. Shaking his head and sighing at the absurdity of his thoughts, he barely registered the battered little blue car pull up out front of the Oak Mansion, or the red head emerging from said car.

The knock on the door pulled Gary back to reality, jolting him out of his thoughts. Grinning, he walked over to the door and threw it open. Before he had time to react, Misty had thrown something at him. Reacting quickly, Gary caught the plastic wrapped mass, looking at Misty who was only smirking at him.

"It may not be in the same league as pancakes, but I do believe I'm about to give you a good run for your money"

Gary proceeded to unwrap the small bundle, revealing a few chocolate covered squares. More confused than he intended to be, he took a bite, surprised with what it was.

"You made muesli bars? From scratch?"

Misty laughed, "You know, they actually aren't that hard to make. You just buy the raw ingredients and bind them with sweet stuff and melt some chocolate on top. They did take a little longer than I thought though, that's why I'm late. Are they good?"

"Um, yeah. They're delicious, actually" Gary finished stuffing the square in his mouth and proceeded to start on another one. Misty giggled.

"You seem surprised"

"Well, I've never known anyone to make muesli bars before, and they really are good" said Gary with a full mouth.

"Come with me, then. I have something for you, a parting gift, I suppose"

They walked out to Misty's car, in silence for a moment before she spoke again, "You know, the problem with making muesli bars, besides the absurd amount of cleaning you have to do after you're done," she added with a sly glance Gary's way, "is that you can't just make a couple. It can't really be done, so with that in mind…" she opened her car door and bought out a large container and handed it over, "Here."

Gary looked at her for a moment, confused, "What's this?"

"The rest of them" she replied simply.

He gawked for a moment before coming to his senses, taking the box from her.

"Now, what do you say?" she asked teasingly.

Gary smirked, "Do I say 'wow, Red actually can cook something without killing it?'"

Her eyes narrowed, "What do you think, Oak?"

He laughed, "Do I say 'Red likes the great Gary Oak so much she slaved over a stove to make muesli bars?'"

"I didn't slave over a hot stove" she mumbled under her breath, but not quietly enough.

"What, no hot stove? But I did!"

"You mix the ingredients, stick it in a pan and whack it in the fridge! You don't actually cook them!"

Gary looked at her in mock horror, "You didn't actually cook?"

Misty shot Gary a withering look, "Be thankful I did anything. You told me not to make anything if I remember correctly."

Gary chuckled lightly, "Aww, don't be like that! I really do like them!"

Misty looked up, meeting his gaze evenly. "So did I win?"

"Hmm…I'll tell you what; you can have another chance another time. You'll have lots of time to practice after all. I'll expect something spectacular when I get back though."

Misty let out a breath in a low sigh, "I think I'm really going to miss our breakfasts"

"That's just code for you missing me. Can't blame you, really" he shrugged.

She punched him lightly on the shoulder, "Don't flatter yourself, Oak"

Reluctantly, Gary looked down at his watch. It was time.

"Wait here a moment," Gary suddenly handed the container back to Misty. She watched him bolt back into the house, exchanging hugs with his grandfather and a tearful Delia, though Tracey was nowhere to be seen, and grabbing his suitcase and dragging it back outside, completely unaware that the older couple were now watching them intently through the window.

He walked back to Misty slowly. For a few moments, there were no words exchanged; there was no need, the silence spoke far louder than words ever could. Before either of them could think he closed the gap between them, enveloping Misty in a tight hug.

"Bye Gary" she whispered.

"Smell ya later, Red" he replied just as quietly.

Back in the house, Delia squealed happily at the contact between the two. "You don't think they…" she trailed off, turning to face her husband.

"I don't know, but I can tell you this much," he replied, not taking his eyes off his grandson, still with his arms around the red haired Gym leader, "he has never hugged a girl like that before."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN: **Wow, I didn't expect it to come out that emotional...There was too much going on here, wasn't there?

Yay, another chapter down! From here on in I'm going to have a RIDICULOUS amount of free time, so expect regular updates!

Please leave a review if you have a few moments. Reviews make me happy : )


	8. Chapter 7: Misery Loves Company

And here we are once more! Don't worry, this chapter isn't sad or whatever, I sort of had my fill of that on the last one! This chapter and the following one are presented as one 24 hour block. This chapter is Misty's day, the next is Gary's. I even introduce a new character this chapter! Yay! Get excited!

**DISCLAIMER: **I own Pokemon…seasons 1-13 on DVD. Oh, you thought I meant the franchise? Sorry to disappoint you then, I definitely don't own that.

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 7: 'Misery Loves Company'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Misty was, in a word, miserable.

Well, maybe not miserable, definitely a little off though.

The not-misery confused her immensely. There was, in her mind, no good reason to feel so damn weird. She was successful, finally independent, doing pretty damn well financially and living it up all on her own, thank you very much.

Yet she found it incredibly distracting. All she seemed to be able to do for the past week was drift aimlessly throughout the Gym and across the city, not paying a whole lot of attention to anything or anyone. Even her Gym battles had been severely lacking; Misty had already lost three battles that week. Ordinarily her challengers would be lucky to see her defeated once a month. The news of these losses spread quickly leading to a huge influx of trainers who fancied their chances now that the leader's confidence was rattled. Most of the time however Misty was gratified to send them on their way once more without so much as a contemptuous glance in their direction as they fled with their tails between their legs. It was a rush like no other to smite those conceited douchebags.

So why was she so sad? Smiting douchebags usually made her so happy.

This was the subject of the phone call she was making to Marina early that morning. Initially Misty believed her problem was that she hadn't seen Marina in a few weeks and the loneliness she was getting over had hit her again, and obviously the solution would be to simply sit and talk to the girl.

It would have been nice if the girl had at least pretended to agree with her.

"_Aww! Misty misses her boyfriend"_ Marina gushed over the phone, pretending to ignore the glare from Misty bearing down on her through the screen. _"I never thought we'd see this day!"_

Misty lowered her head to the bench, banging her forehead back and forth on the hard surface, for both her benefit and her friends'. "No Marina. He's not my boyfriend. No matter how many times you say that it won't come true"

"_Well if you're so sure about that then maybe I'll ask him out"_ Marina baited, bracing herself for a reaction.

At that remark Misty sat bolt upright. She didn't know why she suddenly felt so angry, but guessed she wasn't able to hide it from showing on her face when Marina suddenly burst out laughing.

"_You are too cute girl! You know I'd never steal your man!"_

"He's not my damn man" she muttered, turning a bright shade of red.

"_Then let me pose to you these questions" _Marina continued to laugh, _"__you think you're sad because you miss me, correct?"_

"I think so, yeah"

"_Flattering"_ Marina deadpanned. _"Since starting this conversation, do you feel any happier?"_

"Well, you're sort of pissing me off, but…um…kind of?"

"_Hmm, you don't sound very sure. Why don't you feel happier? You're looking right at me"_

Misty held her head in her hands as much as she could given she was still clutching the phone. "I don't know Marina, maybe it's a cumulative effect. Just keep talking and I'm sure I'll feel better"

Marina simply laughed at Misty's anguish. _"Why don't you understand that I'm not the one you want to talk to?" _when Misty looked up confused she continued, _"I'm not offended, yo__u know."_

Misty sighed, "What even makes you think I like him? I don't even talk about him."

"_That's exactly how I know you like him. You're making a very conscious effort to keep him to yourself, and you've always played your cards close, not telling anyone much__, but you do have your slips on occasion__"_ said Marina matter-of-factly.

" I have slips?" she turned red as she watched Marina nod slowly, "I guess I miss him a little" she said relenting, "but he's only been gone for a week, and I really don't think he's the reason I feel so sad"

"_Then pray tell Misty, what is?"_

"I was hoping you could tell me"

"_I already have, yo__u dense girl. You just won't see it"_ Marina was starting to get annoyed. _"Why don't you just call him? Couldn't do any harm, could it?__ Then you might have your answer__"_

"Why should I call? If he wants to talk then shouldn't he call?" Misty grumbled bitterly.

Marina threw her arms up, defeated, _"OK, I'm done. No more. You are infuriating__, woman! I try to help, help you asked for I might add, and you throw it in my face. I really don't know what you want from me, and I doubt very much you know either!" _She gasped, having run out of breath.

Misty cradled her head in her hand and sighed, "Why are you pushing this so much?"

"_He makes you happy. Anyone could see it__. Anyone except you, that is. On the occasions you spoke to me when he was still around we could barely wipe the smile off your face. Now that he's left, we're back to this mopey version of Misty I thought you'd left behind ages ago__"_ she replied simply with a shrug of her shoulders, _"Pardon me for wanting my closest friend to be happy"_

"I appreciate that Marina, but can we _please _talk about something else? Talking about him makes me oddly uncomfortable" she shifty anxiously in her seat as though to prove her point.

"_Fine, fine. What do you want to talk about then?"_

"How about when you're coming over next? I think I need adequate time to prepare myself for this unnecessary shopping spree you insist on dragging me on"

Marina moved off camera before coming back moments later clutching a small leather notebook which Misty assumed was her diary. Flicking through the pages, she settled upon a date and circled it with a pen, _"I can be there on Tuesday in two weeks. I have a seminar to teach in Pewter City that morning so I can be in Cerulean by midday. Should I come to you or meet you at the mall?"_

Misty laughed, "You seem oddly indifferent about all this for someone who was pushing for it so hard!"

Marina shrugged, _"I guess I'm sort of tired right now.__ You did just wake me up__,__" _she looked pointedly at Misty who smiled on guiltlessly,_"__plus it's still two weeks away; the excitement will mount, I'm sure!"_

"If that's the case I'll meet you there! We can't have you bouncing off the walls in my Gym; if you're going to break stuff it won't be mine!" Misty joked.

Marina giggled slightly, _"I got a little out of hand last time, didn't I?"_

"A little out of hand? That lamp couldn't be repaired, three plates were smashed and two sheets of glass had to be replaced! You were frickin' insane!"

"_You love me and you know it" _replied Marina with a grin, _"now if only we could get you to realise your feelings about a certain someone else…"_

"MARINA!"

"_Chill out Misty, you know I was kid__ding. Anyway, I have to go, see you in two weeks at the mall, OK? Don't forget!__"_

Despite herself, Misty allowed a smile, looking forward to seeing her friend again, "I wouldn't miss it for anything. Bye for now"

"_Bye Misty. And call him!"_ she hung up before Misty could get a word in edgeways.

**-XXX-**

The rest of the day was a blur. There were so many challengers waiting at any one time that the waiting room was full to capacity each time Misty went to call on the next contestant. Each time she went out there, she couldn't help but notice that there was one trainer who hadn't made to move from his seat in the corner facing the wall all day with their face buried behind a breeders magazine. It was summer time in Kanto, so it wasn't completely out of the ordinary that someone might just want to take advantage of the large and incredibly efficient air conditioners in the Gym, but Misty felt suspicious; usually waiting trainers at least left to find some food or go to the bathroom, but not this one. Shrugging, she decided to pay it no mind, ruthlessly dodging trainers and knocking down their undeserved senses of accomplishment.

She was gleeful to have defeated her final opponent of the day, a cocky young man with an equally cocky Venusaur who admirably, though rather stupidly, didn't know the meaning of the word 'quit'. She took them out with her Walrein, a new addition to her Gym team, and gave them the same spiel she gave every other trainer she defeated that day; "You did good kid! Train some more and you'll definitely beat me!" she spouted that line to every trainer, man woman or child and she could tell her latest victim didn't appreciate the sentiment; he mumbled something incoherently that she was sure should be offensive and glared at her before leaving.

It was now 7pm, and the Gym was officially closed for the day and anyone waiting would have to come back tomorrow. Most of the waiting trainers glanced at their watches and grumbled before slowly getting up again and making their way out, mumbling similar obscenities under their breath regarding 'that red head bitch'. Others waited for the lady herself to come boot them out so they could have a last ditch effort to ask for their match to take place now. All trainers except the mysterious individual who had been sitting in the corner seat since mid-afternoon with the same magazine in front of their face had left.

Nervously Misty inched her way closer to the mystery person; she still couldn't discern whether or not they were male or female, though she was sure there couldn't be that many women with forearms so toned or hair so short. She was used to the occasional drifter looking to cool down in the heat, and even the homeless population wasn't averse to occupying the public areas of the Gym during the day, but there was something about this person that told Misty that they were after something else.

Reluctantly she tapped the person on the shoulder, finally getting their attention. She was prepared to demand answers as to why they were in the Gym the whole day and kick them out if need be. She was not at all prepared for the shock that shot through her system when the mystery person lowered the magazine, revealing their face and looking up at her with a smile.

"BROCK?"

**-XXX-**

It took near on an hour for the excitement between the two to die down to a point where they could speak coherently to each other. He didn't look any different in her mind, save for the fact that he looked to have shot up six inches from when she saw him last. He still wore his hair in the same short brown spikes he'd had since they met, he still had the same gentle smile, though there was a far stronger air of masculinity about him that was difficult to ignore. He was a man now. Misty had to pinch her arm to remind herself that Brock was now twenty five.

One of Misty's greatest regrets in life was losing contact with the Pokemon breeder, someone she long considered to be the older brother she never had, and someone who knew her better than she knew herself. During their childhood years it was Brock who helped her make sense of many things; despite the fact he was one of the most girl crazy guys she had ever known, he was the most insightful person she had ever met.

They hadn't seen or really spoken to one another in over two years, there was so much to catch up on. For hours they reminisced about their childhood journeys, exchanged stories about what the other had been doing recently, and a great many jokes at the others' expense were made, but it was difficult for Misty to concentrate on the questions she wanted to ask and the answers she wanted to give when her old friend was staring intently at her as though she were a specimen of some kind.

She got up to head into the kitchen to prepare some tea. She watched as Brock's eyes took in every subtle movement, every nuance of what she was doing, studying her attentively as she moved around the kitchen. Coming back to the living room she placed a tray on the table and began to pour tea into two cups. She handed the cup over to her old friend and he took it gratefully.

"Is something wrong, Brock?" Misty finally asked, annoyed that he was still staring at her over the rim of his cup as he took sip.

He leaned forward and put his cup down, resting his chin in his hands, taking a moment to study her further before answering, "What's up Misty? You seem sort of sad"

_Of frickin' course you'd make that observation! _"No, I'm fine! I guess I'm just happy to see you after so long" she replied quickly.

"And I'm really happy to see you again too" he grinned, "but you forget who you're talking to Misty. I can read you like a book. Are you still upset about Ash?"

"WHAT? No, of course it isn't! I got over Ash ages ago! Truth be told, I was never upset about it, I was just angry he seemed to be doing so well after it!"

He took another sip of his tea, "I doubt he ever told you this, but he actually came and saw me before he swanned off back to Hoenn"

This surprised Misty. As far as she had known, Ash hadn't spoken to Brock in years. "Really? Why did he go to you?"

"He wasn't doing as well as you think he was. He was actually pretty upset, though I think it was more over losing the idea of you, not you yourself"

Misty's jaw dropped to the floor. "He was _upset_? Really, like…crying and everything? But he seemed fine with it!"

"I think he was OK with it but look at it his way; you were his first long term girlfriend" Brock explained, "You dated for three years. Even if it was the right decision, it's pretty hard to let go of something like that. He actually struggled with it for a couple of weeks over in Pewter City with me before he finally got up and started travelling again. But like I said, I don't think it was the break up itself he was so cut up about"

Misty felt terrible. She had no idea their break up affected Ash the way Brock was describing, "I can't believe I didn't know. Had I known, I – "

"Would have done it differently?" Brock cut in, "No. You made the right choice, even Ash knew it. While most everyone thought you two would be the gold standard for couples dating, you guys obviously weren't into each other like that anymore when your time finally came around."

"We were in the beginning! We were so happy for the first two years, but after that it got a lot harder. When we broke up we both said it was more like we were still just best friends, but best friends who slept together! We weren't really even a couple for the latter half of our relationship" Misty took a breath and leaned back on the sofa, "It was really strange now that I think back on it"

"Don't blame yourself Misty, he got over it in the end, and he's doing fine now in Hoenn" he downed the last of his tea in one gulp. "With May…" he trailed off.

Misty picked up on something strange in Brock's tone, "What's wrong with May?" she asked, mentally applauding herself on hiding her own thoughts on the other girl.

"To tell you the truth Misty, I don't really like her" Brock leaned back and crossed his hands behind his head, "She was a sweet kid but over the years she turned into a bitch. I don't think Ash took her along willingly"

Misty had to laugh at this, "He's always been too nice for his own good! You think she's after his Champion money, don't you?"

"I wouldn't put it past her now. After all, he finally won the Indigo and Johto leagues; he was left pretty well off financially. Winning the Hoenn league would definitely make him a millionaire if he isn't already"

"I'm sure Ash will work it out for himself. He's dense but he isn't _that_ stupid. If he works out what's happening I think he'd put a stop to it." She reasoned.

"I hope you're right, Misty. Anyway" he rubbed his hands together, "but back to you and not our clueless friend. Why are you sad?"

Misty sighed and took another breath. _Why does everyone keep asking me that?_ "I'm not sad Brock" she didn't sound particularly convincing.

"I know you Misty; we were best friends along with Ash for years. I know when you're happy, angry or sad. Hell, I even knew when it was that time of the month" both flushed a deep red at that, "I'm just going to throw some ideas out, I'll be able to tell when I've hit the nail on the head," he stroked his chin in mock deep thought, "does it have anything to do with those gorgeous sisters of yours?"

"No, they're off and on their way. We're cool"

"Alright then…is it something to do with the Gym?"

"No the Gym is fine, better than ever maybe"

"I'm a Gym leader too you know. I've heard about your recent string of losses"

"WHAT?" Misty hopped to her feet, outraged, "I lost three matches! How in the hell is that a string?"

He shrugged and held up his hands, "Don't ask me, it was in the weekly email the league sends to all the Gyms. Is what's making you sad to do with the losses?"

"No" she said sitting back down. This time her denial was far less convincing, Brock knew he had her.

"Really?" Smirking, Brock leaned down to his satchel bag on the floor, pulling out a glossy magazine. He opened it to the appropriate page and handed it over, "Does it have anything to do with this?"

Misty was absolutely stunned. The damn paparazzi were fucking vultures! The magazine featured a full page spread of photos of Gary Oak coming to and leaving the Cerulean Gym on various occasions, plus a grainy long distance picture of their goodbye in Pallet Town before he left. "Why the hell is this in a magazine?"

Brock shrugged again, "You're interesting, he's interesting. Together you have the world asking so many damn questions they can't help but be curious, myself included. So tell me; is _he_ why you're sad?"

She never could lie to Brock. She had often tried on occasions but not once had it ever worked. Either he saw through it or she couldn't spit it out in the first place. "Maybe a little…"

"Misty, it's Gary Oak! What the hell are you doing with him?"

"Look, I'm not 'with' him, OK? And even if I was, what do you care anyway?"

"Don't you remember when we were kids? The animosity between Ash and Gary? The bitter rivalry? Ash being close to screaming after dealing with him every fucking time? Any of it? Did you sleep through all their encounters?"

"Believe me Brock; I didn't go looking for it. Hell, I wasn't even sure I wanted to be his friend – "

"His _friend_? Misty…what the fuck? Honestly!"

"Yes Brock! I consider Gary Oak to be a friend now. He came over every now and then and we'd have breakfast together and if I'm going to be completely honest with you then yes, I guess I miss him a little now that's he's gone!" Even Misty looked shocked at her confession.

Brock shook his head in disbelief, "When did this start?"

"Um, about six or so weeks ago? He came over instead of Tracey to fix my pool pumps. I wasn't too happy about it at the time; he was still the arrogant egotistical jerk we knew as kids. Words were said and he left. I called him drunk later that night so and he came over and helped me with my hangover the next day. I sort of chewed him out about it but after I apologised – "

"You apologised to Gary Oak? I don't believe either Ash or I have ever been on the receiving end of an apology from you, yet you hand one out to him?"

"That's because I'm always right" she stuck her tongue out for emphasis while Brock rolled his eyes, "and yes, I was in the wrong so I said I was sorry. We got to talking, and he's a really nice guy, and I have a lot of fun with him. I really do feel he's a good friend now"

Brock stared at her with wide, unblinking eyes as though willing the situation to be untrue; but he wasn't able to ignore the fact that Misty's eyes sparkled like sunlight glinting off the ocean as she talked of her friendship with Gary. He sighed and ran a hand through his short spikes, "Are you sure? I do trust you Misty, you were – are, one of my very best friends. Understand that I'm only asking because I don't ever want to see you hurt"

"I know Brock," Misty relented, "You've always been the big brother. But I can tell you that I'm a big girl now, and I can take care of myself, but I don't think I need to worry about Gary breaking me because I know it won't happen"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because he promised me he wouldn't!"

Brock stopped for a moment, "What do you mean, _he promised_?"

"When we first became friends, he promised that he would never try anything with me, and I trust him not to"

Brock sighed, "And I trust you Misty. You're a strong girl and you've never taken any crap from anyone for as long as I've known you, I don't see why this would be any different, but can you see why I'm worried? It's Gary Oak! He's got a new girl hanging off his arm each week!"

"Yes, but I'm not a conquest Brock, I'm a friend. We both needed a friend, and it's a great arrangement." She leaned over to give Brock a reassuring pat on the knee, "You know I'll always look out for myself, so please don't worry about me"

He appeared to think for a moment before smiling and pulling her into a brotherly hug, "You're like another little sister to me Misty; I'll always worry about you, but I trust you to make the right decisions"

Finally breaking away from the hug, Brock glanced up to the clock in the corner. "Holy shit! Is that the real time?"

Misty's eyes followed, and widened; it was 12.37am…she and Brock had been talking for over five hours? She turned to face him and ask, "Do you want to stay here tonight? It's way too late to drive all the way back to Pewter City, and we have some spare rooms"

He nodded, "It's probably for the best, plus we can hang out some more tomorrow. I haven't been back here in years so you can show me the sights!"

"Sights? As in where ever the ladies are?" Misty laughed, "Sure, we'll have fun tomorrow, I promise." She led him up the stairs to where the bedrooms were and opened a door revealing a sparsely decorated room, containing only a made bed and a set of drawers. "This was Daisy's' room before she left and got married so you can stay here for the night." She disappeared further down the hall, coming back moments later holding a bath towel and a pair of shorts and a shirt, handing them over. "These are the Gym uniforms for the rest of the staff; I have heaps of spares so you can wear these tonight. The bathroom is downstairs on the right past the kitchen"

Brock gave a grateful smile, "Thanks Misty. You know, you always were my favourite travelling buddy."

She laughed at that, "Good night Brock"

"Good night Misty"

She left Brock in the spare room, closing the door behind her. She only had to walk across the hall to come to her own room, which hadn't changed since she was a kid; still painted in a deep blue, walls covered in posters not of famous actors or singers, but of various water type Pokemon and well known water type trainers, a full bookcase took up much of the wall, and every bare inch of her shelves were covered in photos, knick knacks and plush toys. She smiled as she took in her surroundings that never ceased to make her feel calm and at ease.

Changing quickly into her pajamas of shorts and a tank top, she slid under her blankets and drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face, looking forward to what the day might bring tomorrow.

**-XXX-**

The following morning, Misty awoke (frickin' early she might add) to the sound of her phone ringing. She groaned before kicking the blankets off her and tiptoeing past the room Brock was sleeping in, hearing nothing but soft snoring on the other side. Satisfied that her friend hadn't woken, she bolted down the stairs, careful not to trip on the way down; damn shifty stairs had done that before. Dashing madly to the living room, she took a seat in front the phone, picking it up and leaning to turn the screen on.

"What?" she demanded, sounding far more annoyed than she meant to, paying no attention to the screen.

"_Well good morning to you too, Red"_

At the mention of the nickname only he called her she sat up, noticing only then the smirking face of Gary Oak on the screen. "Gary?"

"_Red,__" _he replied expectantly.

"What are you calling for? It's still so early"

She was surprised, actually 'surprised' wasn't quite the right word for it, more like stunned to see a small blush spread out across Gary's cheeks as he held up a bowl of cereal in front of the camera. _"I guess I missed__ our breakfasts__"_

Misty was unprepared for how incredibly touched she was to hear that, shocking herself as she felt tears burn the back of her eyes, and an odd constricting sensation in her chest. She stared at Gary's face for a moment before he sighed in mock exasperation, _"Are you gonna get something to eat and join me or what?"_

Misty felt frozen on the spot for a moment before she finally came to her senses. She suddenly jumped up and out of camera view. Gary craned his neck to try and watch what she was doing but to no avail. She reappeared moments later with a bowl of cereal of her own, placing it on the bench and sitting down again. Smiling at her, a genuine smile she noted, they ate in comfortable silence, enjoying each others' company from across the distance.

She couldn't speak for Gary, but after a week of seemingly unending not-misery she couldn't pin down, Misty finally felt happy again; this was exactly what she needed.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN:** Another chapter down, next one shouldn't be too long a wait.

Anyone have any thoughts on the new Pokemon games announced? Will you buy it or do you think it's silly or too soon? I know I'll be throwing my money around shamelessly like the obsessive Pokemon fangirl I am! And that new legendary that looks like a stag? Fucking majestic!

Please leave a review, you have no idea how much they mean to me :) I try to respond to all reviewers so I promise to make you feel special! Plus it's my birthday on Thursday and review would just make it special since as you get older there's never anything you want anymore…First world problems, methinks.


	9. Chapter 8: A Sense Of Home

OK, so I lied! I had lots of ideas, so this chapter had to start when he arrived back in Sinnoh and make its way to the day Misty's chapter was set around. I wanted to get this chapter done quickly so I could bum around all day of my birthday watching anime! So Happy Birthday To Me have a new chapter!

**DISCLAIMER: **I'm not getting ownership of Pokemon for my birthday…most disappointing. Maybe I'll get it for Easter instead of copious amounts of chocolate.

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 8: 'A Sense of Home'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Gary was, in as many words, fucking irritated.

It started not even a minute after he got off the plane, with a feeling of foreboding washing over him. He began to regret leaving his lab in the hands of his shockingly inexperienced assistants. _Yeah, no problem Professor, we can hold the fort while you go on holidays. Just go, we'll call if there are any problems._ Never again.

The flight had been delayed because of technical problems on the plane so he was much later than he had anticipated. A car had been sent to collect Gary from the Sunyshore City Airport and take him back to his home near the ocean and he was damn lucky it had waited and not given up. The ride back was long and oddly tiring, and with his mind on so many different things it was a small bloody miracle he was able to direct the driver to his house.

Digging through his trouser pockets, he found his house key. He fumbled with the lock for a moment before he crashed through the door, hauling his bags behind him, leaving them by the door to deal with later. He shed his jacket and walked straight to his beeping answering machine. _"You. Have. 54. New. Messages"_

Gary groaned, loudly, as though those who left the messages might be able to hear him and take them all back. Pulling a nearby chair from his desk he took a seat; this was going to take a while. He hit the 'play' button, the sound of the messages through the speakers echoed through the empty house.

_Um, Professor? The Octillery have escaped and we can't find them anywhere. What should we do?_

Gary was, for a moment, absolutely dumbstruck. These idiots called his house phone? While he was on holidays, far away from said house phone? With something pretty fucking urgent too? He really needed new lab staff. Next message.

_Never mind, we found them. They were in the Goldeen and Seaking pool. I guess they wanted more swimming room, ha ha!_

Oh yes, hilarious. He knew exactly who was getting the boot the next morning.

_Um, Professor__…__?_

He decided to skip each message that started like that. It was never anything good.

Unfortunately that was how the following twelve messages started.

Instead of listening to his grossly incompetent staff members slowly dig their way into deeper and deeper graves, Gary swiveled around on his chair and looked around at the large empty house. He expected to feel happy to be home, who wouldn't be? But instead he was suddenly struck by the strangest sense of not belonging. He shook his head at just how inarticulate and stupid his thought was. Gary had been living here for years now! Of course this was where he belonged!

Yawning loudly, he trudged heavily up the staircase leading to his bedroom. Casting his eye over the many hallways and doors leading to empty rooms he wondered once more what had possessed him to buy such a large house considering that he never had any guests and even when he did, they were (mostly) of the female persuasion and usually stayed in his room.

Stripping down to his boxers, he eased himself under the silky sheets. He closed his eyes but sleep still eluded him. Spreading out, he noticed just how large his bed was; he could roll three times and still have room to spare. He opened his eyes, taking note of the way the moonlight streaked through the window, casting soft light around the room, opening up every empty space. It was at that moment Gary realised what was wrong; he was lonely again, and even though he had only left that morning, it hit him like a bolt of lightning that he was missing Misty and his family to the point it made his chest tighten just thinking about it.

Gary sighed; there was no way he was going to be able to talk to Misty again for a long time. If the messages left on his phone were any indication, Gary was going to have his work cut out for him trying to fix everything, getting his work back up to his (by his own admission, unreasonable) standards, and it wasn't going to be easy.

**-XXX-**

As a general rule, Gary was not a person who allowed himself to get worried. He liked to maintain a calm, professional demeanor; he found it instilled a sense of confidence in his employees and it allowed everyone to perform their jobs a little better if they weren't so preoccupied with what their boss might think or do.

When he strode into the lab the following Monday morning, he couldn't help the feeling of dread that bubbled deep in his stomach, which had been simmering away all night. Gary had allowed himself to listen to more of the messages left on his phone, and the situation seemed to go from bad to worse over the space of ten messages. He couldn't believe that the lab could disintegrate so quickly with him gone, and he was more than a little angry at the staff that had proven themselves to be very good at what they do before he left only to allow everything to go to shit.

Throwing open the door, he couldn't help but gasp.

While the messes had been cleared, much of the equipment such as the tanks and much of the glassware were all brand new. _What the fuck happened to my tank? Where are all the Pokemon that were in it?_ He looked around madly, eyes locking on one of the newer assistants, hired not long before Gary left on his break.

Ordinarily, Gary was not one for mentally torturing his employees, but everything up until this point had built and built until he was finally at breaking point. What was about to happen was not this young mans' fault; it was a simple case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Gary rounded on the poor young man, choosing to ignore the fear in his eyes. "What the hell happened while I was gone?"

"I'm sorry sir! I-it was m-mating time f-for the M-mantine, they were aggressive, we couldn't handle it!"

Gary drew a deep breath, "Are you telling me that the Mantine did that?"

"We realised there was only one female in the tank with five males. We took her out and put her in a different tank, then went out to find another female but the males threw themselves against the glass trying to get to her. In hindsight we should not have placed the smaller tank in front of the larger one." The assistant reached into a nearby drawer and produced a thick wad of photographs. Gary flicked though them slowly, taking in the images of smashed glass, wet paperwork and damaged equipment, not to mention the injured female Mantine.

"Where are the Mantine right now?" he asked, not looking up from the pictures.

"I hope you understand that we had to let the more aggressive male Mantine go, we just couldn't handle him. Had we put them all back together he would have attacked the other males too."

Gary let out a frustrated sigh, "fine, I get that. But where are the rest of them? Did you put them anywhere that may compromise the experiment?"

The particular group of Mantine had been caught in waters known to be incredibly cold and incredibly high in salinity. Gary's research team was investigating the different effects water temperature and salt levels had on various Pokemon given that water temperatures were rising and the oceans were becoming diluted with frozen masses of ice gradually melting into the sea. The tanks they were kept in had higher water temperatures, and the research they were doing was proving interesting as the Mantine had changed colour. Not to the shiny brilliant blue colours that were rare at the best of times, but to something more akin to a shade of green.

The assistant shook his head, "They were taken to the warmer pool outside. We adjusted the temperatures so it was a similar environment to the tank, nothing was compromised" he promised.

Gary merely nodded before walking out the back door leading to the pools out the back. It wasn't only Mantine that were researched at this lab; pools were filled with many species of water Pokemon, all in similar experiments to the Mantine. Some were kept in colder waters, nutrient levels in some pools had been manipulated, in some pools species that normally wouldn't interact in the wild were kept together. Gary stopped in front of an enclosed pool housing a group of Octillery. Remembering a message on the phone, he had to ask. "What happened with the Octillery? A message said they escaped."

The assistant blushed somewhat. "We didn't close the tops of the indoor tanks enough. We bought them in to monitor any changes, and we must have left enough space for them to crawl out. We came back in from lunch to find them gone. We searched everywhere and finally found them in one of the pools."

"The Goldeen and Seaking pool, correct?"

"Yes, that's right." The assistant contorted his face, twisting uncomfortably as though the next thing out of his mouth may land him somewhere without a job. "Professor, why didn't you return any of our calls?"

Gary smirked, "A few reasons actually; It was my holidays, I asked not to be disturbed, but the biggest reason would be that _you idiots were calling my home phone when I told you that I wasn't going to be home_! You left 54 messages I wasn't there to collect until last night!"

The assistant stammered wordlessly for a few moments. In the short time he had been employed at the lab, his co-workers had told him that the boss was cool, but when he was angry, it was terrifying. He never yells, they said, it's like a deadly calm washes over. There's no change in tone or volume, just an underlying sense that he might rip your head off at any second. In that moment, the assistant understood perfectly what they meant.

Still smirking, clearly enjoying watching the kid quake in his boots, Gary walked away further down the line of pools. In his notebook he began to write down various pieces of information such as the time and date, temperature, nutrient levels, salinity, and observations on the Pokemon themselves. It was oddly relaxing; in some ways the almost mindless way Gary went about his job was soothing, blocking out all unnecessary thoughts and feelings. In no time at all he was finished with his visual observations, but he still had to deal with the more analytical components in the labs and minor experiments.

For nearly three hours he successfully blocked out all white noise, getting the vast majority of his work done for the day. To his surprise more of his assistants had come in despite it being their days off, catching up on the work that they fell behind on when Gary was gone. Slowly he felt his stress ebb away somewhat but he wasn't counting on it staying that way; more often than not problems arose that would no doubt make him want to tear his hair out.

A tired voice rang out over the large lab. "PROFESSOR!"

Gary snapped his head up, annoyed to have been pulled so unceremoniously out of his little dream land. Turning on his chair he saw an assistant run over to him, holding an almost spherical pale blue object. Breathlessly the assistant handed it over. Only then did Gary realise that the object was in fact a Pokemon egg.

"Where did you find this?" he asked, examining the egg from every angle.

"In the tank where the female Mantine is kept."

"So the males obviously impregnated her. Do you know which one?"

"I'd assume it was the aggressive one we had to release."

Wordlessly, Gary opened a nearby drawer and rifled through it, looking for something that seemed to be eluding him. "There were files here pertaining to all the Pokemon we keep here, with photos, observations, everything. Where are they?"

The assistant turned and pointed to a cabinet Gary didn't recognise. "When the tanks smashed a lot of our paper based research was ruined. Everything we were able to salvage was moved into that. Notebooks and some files, but not a whole lot else."

_Why did he wait until __**now**__ to mention that?_ Suppressing a growl, he walked over to the cabinet and wrenched it open, thanking Arceus his moron staff at least had the presence of mind to alphabetize the files. Sorting through to 'M' he plucked out the files pertaining to the Mantine. He knew the female had changed to a green colour, but did the male?

Upon finding what he was looking for, Gary smiled. The male Mantine had indeed changed colour. Turning back to the egg he picked it up and placed it in a warm water incubator. Quite commonly Pokemon eggs were found in the pools and tanks, but usually they belonged to the Goldeen or Magikarp, but this was going to be interesting. With a Mantine egg, which came from two Mantine who had inexplicably changed colours, Gary would now be able to commence research in genetics and how Pokemon change to suit their environment. As he watched the egg sink gently to the bottom of the small tank he couldn't help but feel excited at where the new research might take him. He looked at the clock, noticing that it was 3pm, feeling a twinge of disappointment knowing that the people he most wanted to share his news with were most likely too busy to talk.

**-XXX-**

By Thursday night, Gary needed _something_ to take the edge off. The stress was getting to him with his employees causally dropping bombs on him and if he didn't do something about it soon, he was going to stab someone with a butter knife…maybe.

He decided to go for a walk along the beach, hoping the sea air and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore might clear his mind.

He rolled up the legs of his trousers and walked onto the sand, almost losing his balance as he displaced the silky grains of sand beneath his feet. It was a warm night. A gentle breeze coming off the sea was cool, contrasting greatly with the dry heat of the sand and air. The night sky was clear; the light of millions upon millions of shining stars was bearing down. There was a certain romanticism of the scene; it was absolutely beautiful. _Misty would have loved this._

In the near distance Gary could hear the pounding of drums from a nearby night club. He stopped in place; he knew the night club well. It was one he frequented quite a bit before his holidays. He felt torn, and debated inwardly the pros and cons of walking toward that club and just getting a drink. After the past few days he had to endure, he could enjoy himself a little, right?

His legs were moving before his brain had a chance to catch up. Before he knew what had happened, he was standing on the shore side of The Retro, the volume of the music making the fine hairs on his arm vibrate. Walking in, he noticed how quiet it was; it was a weeknight, so it wasn't as busy as it could have been. Gary easily found a seat at the bar and ordered a drink.

It was one of the newer clubs in the area, and it was proving to be quite popular with the younger crowd. Surveying the area, Gary saw groups of younger guys, all obviously underage who were slowly getting drunker and drunker while watching the live band, some business men who clearly did not care where they were so long as the alcohol kept flowing, and by the looks on their faces people who had been given the boot by the significant other, looking depressed to the point that they appeared numb to the outside world.

Gary sipped his drink in silence, not wanting to disturb anyone or be disturbed himself. He allowed the music to swim through his mind, making him oblivious to everything around him. He didn't even notice the tall blonde woman slide onto the stool next to him and pulling it closer, staring at his face and body shamelessly.

"Come here often?" she asked. She seemed coherent, but he could smell the alcohol on her breath.

Gary could have burst out laughing. _Really? That's what you're leading off with_? "I did" he replied simply.

"I think I'd remember you" she moved in closer, he could feel her lips just barely grazing his ear; "You don't look like the type of guy I'd forget."

Gary swallowed the remainder of his drink and placed the empty bottle back down on the counter. "I don't think I'm your type at all." He said coolly, trying to move away. He was stopped suddenly by a tugging around his midsection. Turning around, he gawked at the woman who had now dipped her hands into the waistband of his pants, trying to keep him in place.

Under old circumstances, this wouldn't have been an odd occurrence and if Gary were totally honest with himself, he would have welcomed it; but now, it pissed him right off. He felt no need at all to bring this woman home with him. It was a strange thought in his mind, but it felt right; he didn't need random sex to feel good about anything anymore.

Gary felt elated at this realisation, but it was short lived when he noticed the woman unbuttoning the first three buttons on his shirt, leaning in to trail wet kisses down his neck, taking his lack of reaction as a positive sign to keep going. He gently tried to push the woman away, feeling oddly disgusted at this woman's pathetic attempt at seduction, but damn; the woman was sticking like super glue.

"I know you want me." She murmured into his neck.

Gary looked the woman over as best he could given she was trying to bury herself in his skin. He certainly didn't recognise her. He twisted around slightly, looking desperately for an escape. A man's body betrays his arousal, but there was nothing to give Gary away here. He locked eyes with the barman, who shot him a sleazy grin and raised a glass as though to say 'you're welcome'. Gary realised then that the barman must have told the woman about him being, for lack of a better term, a man whore and sent her over.

More forcefully this time, Gary pushed the woman off him. "Look, I'm sorry, but this isn't happening. I'm not interested." He pried her hands off his shirt and looked down at her, unprepared for her reaction.

Tears filled her eyes. _Holy crap, she's about to cry! _Now that he had been freed of her vice like grip, he ran. He ran out of the stupid club and back onto the beach. He stood knee deep in the cold water, leaning over to splash the salty water onto his face, allowing the sound of the wind and the waves to wash over him, calming and cooling him and bringing him back down again. How had he never realised the affect the ocean had on him? He felt a true sense of peace out here, the last time he felt this way was when he was with Mis –

Gary didn't finish that thought. He heard that woman make her way onto the beach, calling out his name, another piece of information he supposed she got from the barman. Without another thought, he continued walking along the shore, back towards his home, away from that bar and away from that life. He didn't need it anymore.

**-XXX-**

Gary didn't go to work the following day. He was still stressed out of his mind but he wasn't entirely convinced his job was the reason. The previous night hadn't helped at all and had possibly even left him more confused than ever; while he was incredibly happy to think that he might not need that lifestyle anymore, old habits sometimes died hard, and old thoughts sometimes circulated through his head.

His answering machine continued to blink at him. He felt sorely tempted to delete all the messages on there but something was holding him back. Pressing the 'play' button, he listened to the other messages, most left by his assistants, a couple from other professors and researchers in the area, a reminder from the power company to pay his bills and a message from the local PokeMart telling him his order of specially formulated Pokemon food was ready for pick up. He got the final two messages, both had been left the day he arrived at his house.

_Gary, it's your Grandfather. We just wanted to know whether you got back to Sinnoh safely. Call us when you get this._

Glancing up at the clock, Gary smiled. Since marrying Delia, his grandfather had taken to having Friday mornings off to spend more time with his wife. By 11am they were probably finishing up a light brunch. Gary took advantage of this to call his grandfather, letting him know about the Mantine egg and its potential implications for his research.

He sat at the video phone and dialed the familiar number of the Oak Laboratory, waiting a few moments before the face of Samuel Oak appeared on the screen.

"_Gary!"_

"Hey Gramps, sorry I didn't call sooner. I only came across the message today"

"_Today?" _the older Oak frowned, _"__But we left it nearly a week ago."_

Gary rolled his eyes, "Don't ask. Anyway, I wanted to tell you about my latest research."

Professor Oak laughed at the way Gary sounded like a kid at Christmastime, pride in his work obvious in his voice. _"__It certainly has you excited. What's it about?"_

Gary proceeded to go on in detail about the Mantine and their changing colours, and the egg and the possible colour variations for the offspring.

"_That sounds fascinating. Do you know why the Mantine changed colour to begin with?"_

"We assume it's a camouflage mechanism. In the warmer, saltier water, it's less clear and the blue stood out more. When they're green in the, for lack of a better term, murkier water they're harder to see. But at this stage that's just a theory."

Professor Oak nodded thoughtfully, _"__That does sound like it could be the case. Plus now you can expand into genetics like you always wanted. This research is opening so many doors for you Gary and I couldn't be prouder!"_

Gary wasn't all that used to such high words of praise, even from his grandfather. He was a little taken aback, but smiled at the compliment, "Thanks Gramps, that means a lot."

At that moment Delia walked by in the background. Gary couldn't help himself. "DELIA!"

She turned around at once; nearly dropping the load of laundry she was carrying in fright. When she noticed Gary on the screen, waving with a smirk on his face, she placed a hand over her heart and let out a breath. _"__Hello Gary."_

"How are you, Delia?" he asked pleasantly.

Sighing, she made her way over, pushing her husband out of his seat. Grumbling something under his breath he moved away from the screen, leaving Gary and Delia face to face.

She smiled at him, _"__I'm doing well Gary, how are you?"_

"Great, actually. I've got heaps of new research and – "

"_The research might be great, but you aren't. Your smile doesn't reach your eyes."_

Gary was confused. "What on earth do you mean by that?"

"_You don't seem truly happy. You smile but it's not a real smile. Are you upset?"_

"How the hell did you get so observant?"

"_Language, Gary. And my son is Ash. I need to be observant. Plus I've known you since you were five." _She answered dryly. _"__Are you lonely over there?"_

He was shocked at how easily this woman was reading him! "I don't really know if lonely is the right word for it." He answered honestly.

"_Is it Misty?"_

"You don't beat around the bush, do you Delia?"

"_Answer the question Gary."_

Gary sighed, sensing it was futile to try lie to the woman who was almost a mother to him, "Sometimes things just remind me of her."

"_Is that all?" _Delia prodded, wanting to coax more out of him.

He leaned back in the chair, resting his hands behind his head. "I think I miss her Delia. Far more than I thought I would."

She giggled, _"__Have you called her yet?"_

He shook his head. "There hasn't been any time. She's always so busy with Gym challengers and when I get home I'm as good as passed out for the night."

"_Maybe you should Gary, it'll do you good. Plus we all saw you hug her before you left, I'd have been more shocked if you didn't miss her!"_

Gary groaned, "You were both watching that?"

Delia giggled again, _"__Not too embarrassed I hope!"_

"Whatever. If I get some time tomorrow I'll call her, OK?"

"_Whatever you think will make you happy Gary! I have to go now; do you want me to get your grandfather again?"_

He shook his head. "That's fine. I should be going anyway. Tell him I said bye, though."

"_No problem Gary. Call every now and then, OK?"_

He chuckled lightly, "Sure Delia, bye now."

"_Bye Gary"_

He hung up the phone and smiled. There were few people on this earth who could make him feel better. Gary was about to get up and walk away when he noticed one more message on the answering machine. He clicked the 'play' button, expecting another message from his assistants.

_Um…hey Gary, It's Misty. Just wanted to know if you got in alright. It's late, I guess you're sleeping. Um, I guess I'll call you later OK? Bye._

He listened to that message a few times over. He might have been imagining it, but Misty sounded…sad wasn't quite the right word for it, but she was a little off somehow. He made up his mind the and there to call her in the morning.

**-XXX-**

Talking to Delia had given him a sense of clarity that he had really needed. Since returning to Sinnoh, he had not realised just how much he missed Misty; in such a short amount of time she had become an important fixture in his life, and something he was not exactly willing to part with. What that meant for him he still wasn't sure.

He tossed the blankets off his body and walked to the bathroom, wanting to look at least semi presentable for what he was about to do. He splashed his face with the icy cold water, and ran a hand through his cinnamon coloured spikes, trying to tame the messiness that came with waking up.

He pulled a black shirt over his blue boxers and came slowly down the stairs. Upon reaching the kitchen he pulled out a box of cereal even though he hated the stuff with a fiery, burning passion, and poured its contents into a waiting bowl. Topping it off with milk, he took the bowl to the video phone, dialing the ever familiar numbers of the Cerulean City Gym.

It took a few moments for the phone to be answered. When Misty appeared on the screen, his breath hitched; even when she was just waking up, she was more beautiful than he remembered.

_"What?" _Gary chuckled. She wasn't even looking at the camera; he could let that one slide.

"Well good morning to you too, Red."

He laughed as her head snapped upwards, only now recognising who was calling, shock all over her face.

_"Gary?"_

"Red." He missed toying with her, taking advantage of her sleepy mental state. He rarely ever paid visits to the Gym after 9am; she was always a little out of it when he was there.

_"What are you calling for? It's still so early." _

Gary wanted to slap himself hard when he felt his face light on fire, but held the bowl up so she could see it on the screen. "I guess I missed our breakfasts."

Gary liked to think that after all the time both had spent in each other's company that he had become quite good at reading the red haired Gym leader, after all, being so similar in personality they shared quite a few mannerisms. He could see a degree of happiness on her face that was hard to ignore, a happiness that reached all the way to her eyes. Before Gary could lose himself in the sight, though he knew he'd been staring for a good thirty seconds, he heaved a sigh of mock annoyance, hoping to distract her. "Are you gonna get something to eat and join me or what?"

Hurriedly, Misty all but ran from her place in front of her phone. Gary peered around as much as he could to see where she went but wasn't able. Absently he stirred his cereal around for a few moments before Misty came back into his line of vision with a bowl of her own.

Smiling at each other, they ate in silence. For the first time since Gary arrived back in Sinnoh felt like he was home, and that feeling was spurred by the gorgeous woman in front of him. He wasn't sure what to make of this, but believed that something that incited such feelings should be in his life as much as possible.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN: **And FINALLY we are getting somewhere!

Gary's research stuff…I pulled it out of my ass! I'm no scientist; I kind of made it up as I went!

Is it just me, or is it really dead on here? No one seems to be updating!

I should mention that I've been getting A LOT of PM requests to add a lemon to this story. I'll only be doing this if there is enough support for it so please, if a lemon is something you'd like in this story, leave it in a review or cast your vote on the poll on my profile.


	10. Chapter 9: Just Like Old Times

Hello again everyone! Sorry for the slightly longer wait than normal, I kept second guessing myself on this one. Here's another chapter for you all! We're at about the halfway point on this story, give or take, so we're going to be progressing a little faster with some slightly longer chapters planned for the next few updates. Without further ado, let's get on with it! Note that this chapter follows immediately from the last, and since people seemed to like Brock, he's sticking around for a little while!

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Pokemon. If I did, this shit would be canon, people! Well, at the very least Misty would have left Ash in a ditch somewhere and swanned off with Gary having far more entertaining adventures…*sigh* If I had been able to dictate what happened in the shows I watched as a kid I would have had a pretty warped childhood…

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 9: 'Just Like Old Times'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Brock had never been a heavy sleeper.

For many years he travelled with Ash and various other travelling partners, acting as a father and brother figure, cleaner, cook, babysitter, guide, mediator and voice of reason, not to mention his own familial obligations. In fulfilling these many responsibilities it was inevitable that he would never get a sound, satisfying sleep; he would forever be waking up early.

Last night however had bought to him one of the deepest, most relaxing sleeps he'd had in recent memory. He hadn't wanted to wake early; sleeping in Daisy's old bed, her perfume lingered on the pillow and permeated into the blankets until he was practically drowning in the scent, he doubted he could feel more comfortable in a bed unless the object of his deepest affections happened to be right next to him. It made him feel a little creepy now that he thought about it.

He rolled onto his back, concentrating on the noises he could hear. He could hear soft voices and laughter from downstairs. Considering it was only him and Misty in the house, it had to be her, but who was she talking to?

Casting off the blankets Brock slowly got out of bed, upset to be leaving the warm, sweet smelling haven. He crept silently down the stairs, wincing and pausing briefly as he reached a step that creaked. He paused at the bottom of the stairs hoping to hear more of the conversation, but the sound was still muffled. As ninja-like as possible, he rounded the corner, coming into perfect view of Misty sitting in front of the video phone. Despite himself, Brock let out a soft sigh of relief; he couldn't help but worry that maybe there had been a thief or murderer at the door. He chuckled quietly to himself; of course he'd be the one to be ridiculously over cautious and expect the damn near impossible.

Peeking out from behind his place on the wall, he observed Misty from a safe distance so as to not disturb her conversation. He heard a male voice over the phone but it wasn't one he recognised; she definitely wasn't talking to Ash or Tracey. He strained to hear more of the male voice, rendered almost inaudible by the phone speakers. Frustrated, he moved slightly so he had a better view of the screen, and he couldn't help but laugh inwardly and feel slightly surprised at who was on the other side, even though Misty had explained the situation to him last night.

_"Yes Brock! I consider Gary Oak to be a friend now. He came over every now and then and we'd have breakfast together and if I'm going to be completely honest with you then yes, I guess I miss him a little now that's he's gone!"_

The protector in Brock still wasn't convinced about this burgeoning friendship (relationship?) between the two, but couldn't deny the abrupt change in Misty's entire countenance when the conversation was steered toward Gary. Her eyes sparkled, her voice lifted, even her body language changed to suit. Brock liked to believe that he was quite intuitive and very good at reading people, Misty especially, so as much as he might like to deny it, Gary seemed good for her; as much as she had always liked Ash, he had never elicited these sorts of reactions from her.

Getting into a better position, Brock observed Gary. He could see it clear as day; Gary liked Misty. A lot. His reactions were much the same as Misty's; a genuine smile alternating with a teasing smirk, soft eyes, and again a real sense of happiness, comfort and trust. Brock, admittedly, had not seen anything besides grainy photos of Gary for at least ten years and couldn't say much, or rather anything at all, about the man Gary had become. Sure, there were magazine articles detailing his spectacular debacle of a personal life, but much of it was speculation and hearsay, and Brock had never been one to get behind, much less believe such malicious gossip, and those magazines were hit and miss at the very best of times. He grudgingly acknowledged that he had no right to judge Gary's suitability for his friend based on the sort of child he had been. If he wanted to know what sort of man Gary was now, he had to learn, and learn the only way he had ever known how; spying on the two just as he had spied on Misty and Ash so many years ago.

The conversation was teasing banter, and it was clear to Brock that both were very comfortable with each other. He knelt down against the wall and listened to what they were saying.

"…_I know you must be going positively insane without little old me there to entertain you, but – "_

"Yes Gary, we talked about this before and I already promised it wouldn't happen again."

"_Even s__o, you went beyond a wreck last time you got lonely, hell you could have given me a run for my money on my worst days, Red. If you feel upset again, call me before you hit the booze,"_ Brock could see the smug smirk on his face from his position on the floor; _"I'll be able to make you feel better."_ He added with a wink.

Misty rolled her eyes and giggled, "I shouldn't doubt the abilities of the great Gary Oak should I? You've done it before after all. You have my word that I'll call you instead of hitting the bottle. You should promise me the same, though."

Gary chuckled lightly,_ "Sure Red, you have my word."_

Brock was impressed. In their own playful sort of way, Gary and Misty seemed to truly care about each other. In between how he was speaking and his subtle body language it was clear to Brock that Gay had matured a great deal in the past few years, though his ego was as big as ever. Having two egos as large as theirs in one room was sure to prove one of two things; either they would combust, or they would balance each other out. The latter was proving to be the correct assessment.

"_How long until your girly day with that crazy chick?"_

"You mean Marina, right?" Misty asked, raising an eyebrow to which Gary simply smirked.

"_Yeah, that one. __Looking forward to it? For some reason I can't imagine you girling it up at a mall."_

Misty sighed, "It's not my thing; I'd rather be training or something like that, but I owed her something and this was what she picked."

"_You're too nice for your own good, you know t__hat?"_

She smiled softly, "Yeah, so I've been told."

A hushed silence fell over the two. Brock decided it was time to make his presence known. He rounded the corner fully and came into view of the camera. Gary looked up at him and smirked slightly, though Brock could detect an underlying sense of jealousy buried beneath the arrogant façade. _"You never mentioned Rock-boy __was with you."_

Misty turned around suddenly, coming face to face with Brock. She gave a little squeal and jumped in fright, then tried to calm her breathing. She eyed Brock warily and he flashed a smirk of his own. She turned back to the phone where Gary looked at her expectantly.

"Um, yeah. He got here yesterday…" she toyed with the idea of telling him about the magazine article they had been featured in but thought the better of it.

"_Uh huh, did he spend the night?"_ Brock tried not to laugh. If this guy was at all concerned about appearing jealous he wasn't worried about it now.

Brock watched as Misty's face contorted comically at the implications of what Gary just said, "Yes, but it's not what you clearly think it is! He stayed in Daisy's old room, he got in really late and – "

Brock leaned over and cut her off, "It's OK Gary, I just came for a quick visit. I only wanted to chat to Misty about something."

Gary appeared to relax somewhat but still seemed a little edgy. _"Whatever. When are you leaving?"_

Misty was mortified, "GARY!"

Brock merely laughed, inciting Gary further, "I'll be out of here by tomorrow at the latest, no need to panic, Oak."

Gary snorted derisively, _"Why would I be panicking?__ You couldn't pick up a woman if she fell in your lap – __"_

Misty decided to step in, sensing the outright hostility from both men, "OK boys, enough is enough." She stood up and pushed Brock out of camera view then returned to her seat to address Gary again with a smile on her face. "I have to get ready to open the Gym up, but thanks for calling. I actually feel a lot better now."

"_My pleasure, Red." _He returned her smile and winked playfully, _"We'll do this again another time."_

"Bye Gary."

"_See ya Red."_

With that she hung up the phone and turned off the screen, rounding angrily on Brock who stood before her with an expression of amusement across his features.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? Why does everything with guys turn into some macho pissing contest?"

Brock couldn't help but burst out laughing, "You really don't see it do you? It's like with Ash all over again only I don't think you're aware of how you feel at all! How were you more perceptive of yourself at age ten than you are now?"

Misty sighed in exasperation, "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Misty, Gary likes you. A lot, I think. And I'm fairly certain you like him too."

She buried her head in her hands, "Not this again!" she whined. "Did we not go over this last night? How many times do I need to have this conversation?"

"That was before I saw how the two of you acted around each other." Brock pointed out, "Besides, you just told him you felt better after talking to him! What else am I meant to think when you say that?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe that we're just friends! Maybe I did miss him but friends are allowed to miss one another without whatever the hell you're implying, right?"

"I suppose so, but how often are 'friends' that flirty with each other?"

"Oh my Arceus Brock! He's not flirting, we already went over it; he said he never would!"

"Maybe not in his traditional sense! Think about it Misty; before he flirted to get women into bed, but that isn't his goal with you. He's flirting with you in an entirely different way; it's gentle, teasing and playful. Though I don't think he realises what he's doing yet but he's a smart guy, he'll catch on."

Brock smirked as Misty started to turn red out of anger and embarrassment. "Please Brock, no more. It's early; I have to open the Gym." And with that, she turned and walked back upstairs.

"At least think about it Misty." He called after her, getting no response other than the slamming of her bedroom door.

**-XXX-**

Had an empty wall been nearby, Gary probably would be slamming his head against it repeatedly after hanging up the phone.

Instead he settled for holding his head in his hands, feeling most pissed off with himself. Where the hell had that come from? Why had he felt so bloody jealous of Rock Boy, even when he knew for a damn fact that there was absolutely nothing going on between the two? Plus there was the knowledge that Gary succeeded where Brock had always failed regarding the fairer sex. That made him feel slightly better.

Only slightly though.

He scrunched up a nearby piece of paper and threw it across the room, just to fulfill the need to take his admittedly irrational anger out on something. He watched it land with an unsatisfying 'plop' on the other side of the room. Well, that didn't help at all.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, Gary crossed the room to his home office. More often than not did the need for Gary to bring his work home with him arise. Because he felt irrationally paranoid (and maybe a little excited) about leaving it there, he bought the Mantine egg in its underwater incubator back to his house. He watched as it bobbed up and down almost hypnotically in the water, relaxing him until his eyes felt fuzzy and out of focus, casting watery blue ripples of light across the dark office walls. After some minor research, which honestly involved a five minute call to a colleague, he found that the egg would most likely hatch in eight to twelve weeks. Gary, in all his childish excitement, wasn't sure if he could wait that long to start the research he'd never had a reason to start before.

He pulled away from the tank, blinking to adjust his eyes. He looked at the clock, noticing that it was still only 7.15am; the lab wasn't open until 8am. Gary huffed, annoyed. Why the hell had he woken up so damn early again?

_Oh, right. I remember now._

In the short while he had been able to talk to Misty that morning, Gary had felt all his stresses and worries melt away; the girls' presence was frickin' magical! They didn't discuss so much what was happening in their jobs, but their mindless teasing banter was enough to remind Gary why he loved spending time with her in the first place.

Gary was anything but stupid; he recognised that he had a bit of a crush on Misty. Keeping his promise made when they first became friends was steadily getting harder. He groaned and leaned back against a wall; there was no reason to believe Misty felt the same way, and Gary typically didn't participate in gambles unless he knew he was going to come out on top.

It wasn't about 'Sweeping the Sensational Set' anymore; it hadn't been about that in a while. All Gary saw in Misty was an innate ability to bring out the very best in him. Being with, talking to, hell even looking at or thinking about Misty made Gary want to be a better person, the sort of person he thought his family could be proud of, the sort of person she might be able to fall in love with someday.

At these thoughts Gary almost burst out laughing. What a contrast he was now to the person he was three months ago! At what point exactly did he turn into such a bloody pansy? And at which point thereafter did he decide he was OK with it?

He shook his head and swept out of his office, grabbing his cereal bowl and taking into the kitchen to start some cleaning. He knew that things at the lab were about to take a busy turn; they were about to receive water Pokemon from other seaside labs in Sinnoh, many of them exhibiting similar changes to the Pokemon he was already observing. He was going to be hard pressed to find any free time in the near future, hell he didn't even know when he'd next be able to call Misty. Gary hoped it wouldn't be too long a wait. After a week of not seeing or speaking to her his stress levels shot through the roof. If nothing else, speaking to Misty served as an excellent way to relax and keep his chest from exploding.

At the thought, Gary's hand flew to his neck. He wore a black leather cord holding the Pokeball of one of his oldest Pokemon. He released the Pokemon in a flash of red light, smiling when his Umbreon came into view. He'd had Umbreon since it was the Eevee he caught when he was twelve. With the possible exception of his starter Pokemon Blastoise, Umbreon was a constant in Gary's life, a non-judgmental, affectionate and fiercely loyal presence which Gary appreciated immensely. Stretching itself out and purring in a cat-like way, Umbreon padded over to it's trainer and nuzzled his hand, demanding to be petted. He grinned and obliged his friend; scratching behind it's ears. Gary hardly ever used his team for proper battles anymore. Occasionally they would assist in what little ways they could with his research, but mostly it was companionship they provided.

He watched as Umbreon started stalking flies that were landing on it's paws, laughing as it tried and failed to catch them. Gary felt guilty that he didn't call out Umbreon or the rest of his team very often. Truthfully he didn't have a whole lot of time anymore to spend with them. While he was back in Pallet Town they had spent their time at the Oak lab, but even then Gary had been too distracted to visit them. He never wanted to forget his team who had helped him so much when he was younger.

Gary spent the next half an hour doing something he hadn't done in a very long time; he played with his Umbreon and it was like no time had passed between them at all. Despite everything, they were as bonded as ever.

He glanced down at his watch; it was 7.54am. Grabbing his white lab coat (which if he did say so himself, made him look rather dashing) off the hook near the door and quickly recalling Umbreon, Gary walked the short distance to his lab, to a job he knew he should love given the amount of time and energy was put into trying to achieve it, but was becoming increasingly annoying. If he wasn't able to find time to talk to Misty so she might be able to ground him he wasn't sure what he might do.

**-XXX-**

Misty's concentration was everywhere and nowhere all at once.

She tried her hardest to focus on the young lady standing opposite her, who called out an Electabuzz, but her thoughts drifted continually back to her conversation with Brock earlier that morning. Did she like Gary…like _that_?

"HEY!" Shouted the girl, jarring Misty out of her thoughts, "Are you going to battle me or not?"

Shaking her head to try and clear her mind, Misty grabbed the first Pokeball off her belt and threw it onto the awaiting platform, not paying any attention to which Pokemon it was. In a flash or red light, she had called out her Dewgong.

Brock had volunteered to referee the match, observing the battle objectively, and was a little surprised at which Pokemon Misty had called out. Of course, Misty had made a name for herself since taking the reins back at the Gym of being able to battle out of any situation and come out on top, but the odds of Dewgong being able to beat the Electabuzz were slim at best. Misty, for her part, looked horror stricken when she finally took notice of what she had done. She looked over to Brock, a pleading expression in her eyes, "I called out the wrong Pokemon! I meant to call out Quagsire!" she whispered urgently.

Brock nodded and eyed her sympathetically. "Sorry Misty. You already called out Dewgong. Good luck." He snickered as Misty huffed in annoyance as though she was ten years old again.

"Set up a Rain Dance, Dewgong!" Misty called distractedly.

Brock gaped. Seriously, a Rain Dance? Against an electric type? What the hell was Misty thinking, or was she even thinking at all?

Misty wasn't even watching the match, nor was she paying any attention to the unfolding carnage. She tried to fight but her thoughts were drifting back to Gary and she was thoroughly annoyed at herself for it. One some level, what Brock had said to her made some degree of sense; was Gary flirting with her? Did he actually _like_ her? He certainly seemed jealous when he saw Brock behind her that morning. And to make matters worse was she flirting right back? Their conversations were full of playful jabs, light teasing and more than once had there been physical contact, plus she could never deny that Gary was a damn good looking specimen of male, and she missed him like crazy. If she was flirting with him it was entirely subconscious, right? Misty groaned inwardly, it was too much to think about. No, there was no way Gary could feel that way about her, this was just his personality; he was teasing, arrogant and he flirted with everyone! And besides –

"MISTY!"

Misty looked up a little too quickly, hurting her neck in the process. For the first time she looked onto the battlefield and saw her Dewgong passed out. She looked between Dewgong and Brock, a strange expression of embarrassment, horror and shame spread across her features. Brock heaved a sigh and shook his head before waving a green flag to indicate the challenger had won.

"Dewgong is unable to battle. The match goes to the challenger!"

The girl tried to object, "But you normally battle three on three –"

Brock jumped from his place and made his way over to the girl, thankfully way too young for him to want to try anything as he placed an arm around her shoulders and led her to Misty, "I don't think she's feeling very well," he explained quietly, "She didn't even see or hear you issue that Thunder attack, and she normally wouldn't be so stupid to call for a Rain Dance around an electric type."

Misty was still staring at the pool at her Dewgong with that strange expression still on her face, as though willing it not to be true. As Brock and the girl approached, she sighed and took a small, blue, tear-shaped badge from her pocket and held it out to the girl. "You've earned it kid." She said rather mindlessly before recalling Dewgong and walking away, leaving Brock and the girl to stare after her as she walked away.

He led the girl out of the Gym, offering her his congratulations before running back inside, finding Misty sitting on her bed holding her head in her hands.

"What the fuck was that about?" he asked incredulously.

Misty blushed, "I was distracted." She answered simply.

"By what exactly? That was not the performance of Misty Waterflower, ruthless Gym Leader of Cerulean City. That was a battle I'd expect out of some peewee on their first day out!"

Misty cringed, "I know, it was like I couldn't even see what was happening! I can't believe I let that happen to Dewgong with so much as a 'dodge it!'"

"Please Misty, what were you thinking about out there?"

"I guess I was thinking about our discussion earlier." Misty looked down, staring at her hands folded on her lap.

"I'm so pleased you've finally taken my advice." Brock said sarcastically. He sat down beside her and took her hand in a friendly gesture. "Did you come to any conclusions?"

"Believe me Brock, there is nothing to think about." Her tone was low and somewhat sad.

"What you just did out there contradicts that statement."

Brock jumped back slightly as a noise sounding suspiciously like a growl came from Misty as she wrenched her hand away. He had learned many years ago that you don't piss Misty off, and he suspected he was doing just that. He held up his now free hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, hey, it's fine. We don't have to talk about it now – "

"Try never." She grumbled bitterly.

"Fine. Consider the subject dropped. I'm going to tell everyone to leave since you're in absolutely no condition to battle." He moved to get up but was pulled back by Misty's surprisingly tight grip on his wrist.

"Its fine." she said through clenched teeth. "I feel much better now, I can battle."

Brock eyed her skeptically, "Are you sure Misty? There can't be more repeats of what happened earlier. The League will start breathing down your neck if there are."

"There won't be." she replied with a degree of fierce determination which harked back to the old Misty that Brock was pleased to note. She let go her iron grip on Brock and left the room, heading back downstairs to call on the next challenger whom Brock couldn't decide whether or not he should feel sympathetic toward.

After she left, Brock remained in her room, just sitting and observing. He took in the various photos of himself, Ash and Misty from back in their travelling days and smiled, thinking how much simpler his life was back then with such amazing friends. He had taken it upon himself to push Ash and Misty together as teens, something which hadn't worked out at all. He didn't feel guilty though, they needed that relationship, it just wasn't meant to be.

Stepping back, he noticed another photo on Misty's bedside table. There was another one of the trio, but it wasn't what caught his attention. It was a very recent photo of Misty and Gary taken in front of the Oak lab. Gary had his arm around her shoulders and Misty had her arm around his waist, both were wearing happy smiles. To anyone else it would seem a simple gesture of friendship, but to Brocks' trained eyes it was a semi romantic one; the photograph captured so much emotion. The look in their eyes was, for lack of a better word, adoring.

Brock knew Misty; she had a stubborn streak like no one he had ever met. Gary was, on the other hand, was prideful to a fault and one of the most arrogant, overly confident young men to ever grace the planet. It was clear to Brock that there were feelings there, but neither party would ever have the guts to act upon it.

Brock smiled to himself, a new plan formulating in his mind. If they weren't going to get together on their own, he would simply have to give them a push in the right direction.

**-XXX-**

"So where are you taking me?" Brock asked as they walked down the busy streets of Cerulean City. He had almost forgotten how beautiful the city was at night, lit up and sparkling; it was almost magical.

"It's just to a bar down the road Brock. They usually have really good live music and cheap drinks on a Saturday night, not to mention the flocks of women who show up…" Misty shot him a sly grin and hooked her arm with his, leading him towards the bar.

After the day she had had, Misty needed tonight. She hadn't lost any more matches that day but there were lapses in her concentration which occurred more often than she would care to admit. She resolved that for tonight she would forget about Gary and have some fun with an old friend before he left town again, her stupid brain be damned.

They neared the club strip. Night clubs, bars, pubs, any other sort of establishment involved in the selling of liquors lined the street. The muffled sound of music and a sense of anticipation filled the air. Weaving through the throngs of people, Misty led Brock to a small bar almost dead in the middle that appeared to be going widely unnoticed.

"Misty, you said something about ladies?"

"Hold up Brock, we aren't even in there yet!"

Believing that it was in his best interest to trust his friend, he followed her through the heavy doors. There wasn't a line to get in, nor was there a bouncer outside the door. Brock knew Cerulean was a party capital, hell everyone did. He didn't understand why Misty would bring him to such a small place until he was bought inside.

The Prince was a bar that began with a narrow hallway, leading to an open area at the end, one side housing the actual bar area, the other a small room with a small stage and a band setting up on it. The stage area being as small as it was gave a sense of intimacy; everything was out in the open, nothing was closed off. As Brock looked around he noticed that there were small groups of women sitting at the tables scattered around the place. He grinned and turned to Misty, who was getting drinks for them both, "Thank you Misty."

She smiled back and handed him a bottle, "You're very welcome. This is one of my favourite places to come when I want to unwind. The fact that it's so much quieter than every other place on this street doesn't hurt either." She spoke loudly over the music. "Do you want to go try your luck on your own or sit next to me and try and make them jealous?"

Brock threw back his head and laughed. He never dreamed he'd be having this conversation with Misty. In their youth she was always the one discouraging his flirty attitude. "I think I'll go it alone for now. If I need backup I'll come find you."

"Brock, fifty bucks says it'll be five minutes before you need my help tonight."

"You doubt my abilities Waterflower?"

She shrugged and shot him a smirk, "Consider it a friendly bet."

"And what do I get if I win?"

"I won't embarrass the shit out of you when you bring your lucky lady over to meet me."

"And access to a Pokemon of my choice for my newest breeding program."

Misty pretended to ponder his stipulations, "Fine then."

He grinned, "You're on."

"Well, get out there then! Go meet your future wife!"

Raising their bottles to each other as to say 'good luck', Misty watched as Brock made his way to the nearest table. She couldn't hear his latest pick-up lines over the music, but assumed it went over well when he wasn't immediately rejected.

Misty settled herself at the bar, looking over her shoulder at Brock from time to time. She was reminded of the good old days when she saw him lean in to a pretty blonde at the table and whisper something in her ear only to have her drink thrown in his face. Misty burst out laughing when Brock reluctantly moseyed back on over to where Misty was sitting and pulled out his wallet. He plucked out the bill and went to hold it out, pulling it back when Misty reached for it.

"Double or nothing."

Misty sighed melodramatically, "I guess I can watch you fail miserably again, it's making me feel much better after all." She grinned at him and pointed discreetly to another table, "Targets acquired; go get 'em Brock!"

He ordered another drink and wandered over to the other table. Misty was about to turn back around on her stool when she felt someone tapping her shoulder. She turned around and jumped, surprised at who was behind her, "Arceus, Tracey! Don't scare me like that!"

Tracey smiled at her, apologetically at first, but there was something underneath that made Misty want to shudder. "Didn't know you'd actually be here tonight Misty." He said taking a sip of his own drink.

"How do you know about this place? It's one of the best kept secrets in Cerulean."

"I've heard you mention it enough times when I was helping you out at the Gym. Not lately of course, but you used to talk about it a lot. I come here some weekends, don't see you very often."

Misty nodded, "I really like coming here, but I'm always so tired. I hardly ever have the energy to come here anymore."

Tracey moved closer to her, "Would you come if you knew I was here?" he whispered in her ear.

Misty was sure her face turned bright red. She knew Tracey had a crush on her, but was unprepared for hearing him finally admit it. "Arceus, Tracey. I…um, well, I-I don't know…we'll always be friends, I can't…"

Tracey flinched inwardly at the word 'friend'. "It's OK Misty," he lied, "You've been hanging out with Gary lately; you don't need me for anything anymore."

Misty didn't miss the way Tracey laced Gary's name with as much venom as he could muster. "Do you have a problem with me and Gary being friends?" she asked.

"You really think he's your friend Misty?" he sneered. He laughed as Misty gaped wordlessly at him. "Then you're an idiot."

Misty thanked every God she or anyone else prayed to when Brock came up alongside her, dripping once more, handing her a hundred dollars, "Fine, you win." He said, wiping himself off with a napkin. "Oh, hi Tracey."

"Hi Brock," replied Tracey, not taking his eyes off Misty who looked extremely uncomfortable under his gaze. "Could you give Misty and me a few seconds to talk?"

Brock looked over to her and watched as she shook her head, "I think I'll stay." He warily eyed the younger man and took a seat beside Misty. Tracey merely scoffed condescendingly and went on.

"Gary isn't your friend, he isn't your anything! He's just using you! Don't you see that?" his pleas were full of passion.

"For what, Tracey? He Gary's been nothing but good to me! What the hell could he possibly be using me for?"

"Think about it Misty. Why do you come to this bar and not an overly populated nightclub? How many times did Marina or I help you get rid of the filthy perverts looking to score with you? How many times have you had to burn disgusting letters from those lechers who say they'll be the ones to say it?"

"Say what?"

"Bingo, Misty. Your sisters were sluts and now you pay the price with every fucker looking to win Waterflower Bingo."

Brock looked over at Misty, who was on the verge of tears, shocked. "Waterflower Bingo?" he asked.

"And that's exactly what Gary's after too, isn't it? Why else would he be so nice to you Misty? Think about it! He screwed your sisters now he wants to screw you too. He's lulling you into a false sense of security Misty and I refuse to let him!"

Misty by that point had had more than enough. Her eyes appeared as though they were on fire as she stood up and rounded on Tracey, slapping him across the cheek with all the strength she could muster. "You are a sadistic little prick who clearly doesn't know when to quit. Stay the fuck away from me Sketchit or I swear to Arceus I will make you pay."

Misty all but ran from the bar in tears. Brock followed closely behind, more than a little confused, and filled with an intense desire to kick Tracey in the nuts. He almost fell through the door in his haste to catch up with Misty but he needn't have looked far, finding her curled up on the verge of the road trying desperately to keep from crying. He knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. "It's OK Misty." He tried soothing her but it was difficult when he didn't fully understand why she was so upset.

"I never thought of it that way! I thought he wanted to be friends!" she wailed, burying her head in Brock's neck.

"Hey, Tracey just said that stuff to upset you. Don't listen to what he says; he's just jealous, OK?"

"But what if he's not?" she looked up, eyes looking greener than ever under the soft city lights. "What if I really am being strung along by another pervert who just wants bag all four Waterflower sisters?" she hiccupped pathetically.

"Misty, I haven't seen much, but I don't believe for a second that Gary would hurt you, OK? Tracey is just being an ass so please, _please _calm down?"

"But what if he isn't? What if he's right?" Brock held Misty tighter as sobs wracked her body. _What if he's right?_

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN: **I try not to make a habit of cliffhangers, I hate that I can't know things immediately! Does this count as one? I rather enjoyed writing it even if I deleted and rewrote it about a dozen times!

Ever notice how in any fic that doesn't include handymanshipping as a side ship, Tracey is always a bastard? Sorry to any hardcore Tracey fans!

The bar they visit is based on one I used to go to because they always had such awesome bands playing, called the Prince of Wales. I miss that place…

A reminder for you to cast your vote for or against a lemon on the poll in my profile page! Know there will only be one if there is plenty of support so let me know otherwise it ain't happening!

Please leave a review for me! They make me ever so happy!


	11. Ch 10: The Same Enemy That You Despise

Welcome back everyone! Sorry about the wait (a whole 6 days. However did you manage?), this one was a hard one to write! This chapter is like an obligatory part of any Pokemon fanfic, so I hope it turned out OK. Enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER: **Like the majority of Pokemon fans (or maybe just me, I don't know, I can't speak for everyone) I go to sleep hugging a Pikachu plushie having beautiful, haunting dreams of owning the Pokemon franchise. That's about as close as I'll ever come.

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 10: 'The Same Enemy That You Despise'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

After what might be described by some as the week from hell Gary doubted it were possible for him to be more on edge. He decided not to tempt fate by uttering this out loud.

The lab had taken in the Pokemon from other seaside labs throughout the Sinnoh region. Gary and his team were deemed the only lab that might be able to make sense of the changes that were occurring in the water types. As well as changes in colour, some of the Pokemon they had taken in exhibited changes is size and shape and what had researchers most interested was that these changes weren't occurring in Pokemon anywhere else; it seemed to be specific to the Sinnoh region. However flattering it might have been to be thought of as an authority on something, it didn't change the fact that looking after and observing close to triple the usual amount of Pokemon made his stress levels shoot through the ceiling.

And then there was Misty, or a lack of Misty to be more accurate. Every phone call had gone unanswered; every email had gone unreturned; every note had gone un-replied. If it weren't for the Indigo League website which displayed up-to-date Gym stats letting Gary know that Misty was still in Cerulean City and did in fact battle that day and every day for the past week, he might have assumed the absolute worst. Now however, it was abundantly clear that she was ignoring him, and for some reason that was infinitely worse. Even when the Gym was particularly busy, Misty prided herself on being able to make time for Gary. Out of desperation he contacted Rock Boy in Pewter City to ask what was going on but even he couldn't offer anything constructive on the subject, instead choosing to smirk and be annoyingly cryptic. Gary could not think of a plausible reason why Misty would choose to ignore him, and it made his chest tighten to think on it.

Not surprisingly, his lab staff picked up on Gary's obvious tension; tension was probably too polite a word for it. His lab manager, a young man named Jason, was particularly edgy himself which surprised Gary greatly; even in his foulest moods, Jason was the only member of his staff to maintain a level head. If he was reacting to it, Gary supposed he had gotten pretty damn bad. The rest of his staff simply flitted here and there nervously as they waited for him to implode completely. Some of the braver ones had started taking bets on exactly when that would be.

Typically Gary didn't work weekends, however with the vastly increased workload he didn't see a whole lot of choice in the matter; there was way too much that needed to be done daily now that the three assistants there wouldn't be able to handle on their own. As he opened the door to the lab that morning, Jason and another assistant named Kevin were huddled together in the corner talking over a stack of boxes, and couldn't help the look of complete and utter horror from crossing their faces as they watched him cross the room to his desk.

"Professor, what are you doing here?" asked Jason, eyes bugging out of his head.

"Working." Gary replied curtly. "Or at least I'm about to."

"But sir," began Kevin, "Don't you think it might be best for you to stay home and relax? You've been doing so much this week, you deserve some time off."

Gary eyed both men warily, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to get rid of me. What gives?"

Jason gave a quick laugh, "Nothing like that sir! I'm sure you've noticed the state of things this week, we just thought you might like a break from it all." Kevin started nodding his head furiously. "Why don't you head home? We can take care of it."

Curious as to what these two seemed to be hiding, Gary peered behind them to see four stacked boxes. As they took notice of what he was doing, they shuffled slightly to conceal them further.

"What's in the boxes? Are you sending them somewhere?"

"Yes." Replied Kevin a little too quickly. Gary didn't miss the look exchanged between the two men. "These are the latest…findings on…the Tentacool from Canalave City. Their lab asked for the reports."

Gary raised an eyebrow and moved closer to inspect the boxes, "Four boxes worth of reports? There wasn't that much done on the Tentacool. They're smaller and more purple than blue because the water there was lower than normal in oxygen and that was about it."

The two men shifted anxiously as Gary moved closer, seemingly torn and unsure about something. Looks were exchanged, and a whispered conversation passed between the two before Kevin left the room. Suddenly Gary was overcome with an overwhelming feeling of dread, whereas Jason was filled with new found confidence. He stood to the side and allowed Gary to inspect the boxes. He was confused; the address on the box was not for the Canalave lab, but to a location in the Kanto region, Viridian City to be precise. He didn't have the chance to ask questions as a damp cloth permeated with the heady scent of chemicals was pressed to his face. Against his better judgment, Gary inhaled deeply.

Gary didn't notice the evil, malignant smile on Jason's face, or the uncertainty on Kevin's face. In fact, he noticed absolutely nothing until the room began to fade around him; until his eyelids began to feel as though they weighed a ton each; until the posters and notes on the walls began to swirl; until he finally fell to the ground where he was faintly aware of the feeling of ropes being tied around his wrists and ankles, and someone softly whispering 'sorry' into his ear before he stopped fighting and gave in to the darkness.

**-XXX-**

The room was still spinning when Gary finally opened his eyes again. He was acutely aware of a weight resting on his shoulder. Looking over he saw it was the third of his assistants, a lab technician named Sam. He too had been drugged and was still passed out.

Taking in his surroundings, Gary saw that they were in their staff room. There was a figure sitting in a chair in front of them, obviously waiting for him to wake up again. Gary forced his eyes to focus on the figure who seemed to waver under his gaze.

"Kevin?" Gary asked groggily as the body steadily became distinguishable.

"Sorry Professor, I was under orders."

_Orders? _Gary looked over Kevin from his spot on the floor. He was no longer wearing his white lab coat; instead he was wearing tight fitting black trousers and boots, and a white shirt under a black jacket emblazoned with the Team Rocket 'R'. However the most unnerving part of the whole situation was the large gun he was brandishing. "You're with Team Rocket?" he asked disbelievingly.

A look of shame crossed his features, "Yeah, for a little over year now."

Realisation hit Gary like a ton of bricks, "You were hired to work here a year ago."

He nodded, "You've been my mission. My first mission, actually. Jason was sent to be my back up when you hired him eight months ago."

Gary struggled with the ropes around his wrists and ankles to no avail. "What the fuck is your mission anyway?" he asked angrily.

Kevin groaned, "You weren't even supposed to be here today! You were meant to stay home so Jason and I could finish our mission and then you'd never see us again."

"WHAT WAS THE MISSION?" Gary was beyond reason, yelling for all he was worth.

Kevin sighed, "We're going to take the Pokemon here. When Team Rocket first heard about your research they were extremely interested in obtaining the Pokemon. They're unique, rare and extremely valuable; exactly what Giovanni is interested in obtaining. You walked in on us packing up the research files and other paperwork to send back to headquarters in Viridian City. We had already drugged Sam and were about to start gathering the Pokemon when you walked in, then we had to work faster."

"So the past year has built up to this? You waited for a day I had off them you were just going to waltz on out of here and take everything with you?"

"Look, Prof – Gary, I didn't want to do this at first and if I'm being totally honest I still don't really want to. I've looked up to your Grandfather all my life and I respect you immensely – "

"You'll have to forgive me if I choose not to believe that." Replied Gary icily.

"And I understand that, but you need to understand that Team Rocket isn't the laughingstock they once were." He stood up and started pacing, "They're ruthless, evil and aren't above murder to get what they want. When they thought I was wavering they sent Jason to make sure I didn't."

Gary shot him a look of utter loathing before looking away in contempt. "You are pathetic."

"Listen Gary," Kevin pleaded, "I don't really want to be doing this – "

"But you are. You've got me at gun point." Gary pointed out calmly.

At the mention of the gun Kevin looked incredibly ashamed before lowering it, "But I don't have a whole lot of choice. I'll be killed if I go against them, and they won't be above killing you if you don't co-operate."

Gary shook his head in disbelief, "All this for some slightly different Pokemon?"

"Hey, I told you; we traffic in the unique. Even if their changes are due to factors changing in their environment and not something they were born with, these Pokemon are highly unique."

"Just whose side are you on anyway? You talk a big game then tell me how much you wish you weren't."

"Believe me when I say that I want nothing more than to help you, but I can't. I am so sorry that I drugged you, and I'm sorry that we're in here like this but there is nothing I can do."

Gary let out a deep breath and leaned back against the wall, "You're too young to be doing any of this."

"I've never had a say in any of this, it was forced upon me. As much as I'd like to, I can't back out now."

Gary laughed humourlessly, "You're trained to work in a Pokemon lab, and you're good at what you do. You have more options than you realise if you back out. Not with me though, you've burned that bridge."

Kevin smirked slightly, "That isn't the issue here."

"Then why can't you leave? You certainly aren't happy to be doing this."

"I'm part of an exchange. A deal my idiot father made before I was born. I was promised to join Team Rocket on my eighteenth birthday."

"Deals like that are still made?" Gary asked, surprised someone could be so narrow minded to make such a decision still.

"They were eighteen years ago." Kevin replied simply, not adding any more to the subject.

The two men stared at each other. Kevin seemed hesitant about divulging any more information on the circumstances under which he joined Team Rocket, and Gary felt he had enough information about what was happening to start planning an escape and a means of rescuing the Pokemon if needed.

"Have you tried to leave?" Gary needed to make sense of what Kevin was saying.

He gave a humourless laugh. "Why else would they send someone like Jason? He's as much my babysitter as he is yours. Remember before he arrived I tried to quit?"

Gary did remember. He also remembered how damn hard it was to find decent lab staff to begin with. He had tried to talk Kevin out of his decision but had no success. He was oddly surprised to see Kevin come back on his own a week later, even if his wrist had been broken. It was another week later before Jason was hired.

"They will kill me if I try to leave again. Last time they broke my wrist and sent me back, sending someone to watch me; they won't take the same chance on me again."

Gary broke the heavy silence which had fallen around them. "What if I could guarantee your safety?"

Kevin looked up from the floor. "What are you talking about?"

"I have my means. I have a way to keep you safe if you wanted to leave. You could change your name and I could get you another job in a lab far away from here."

"You'll have to forgive me if I choose not to believe that." Kevin gave a small smile, repeating Gary's earlier words.

"Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?"

"No, but I've given you every reason not to trust me. I can't afford to take any more chances Gary, whether on you or on Team Rocket."

"Think about it Kevin. This lab for me is years' worth of hard work, something I won't part with willingly. I promise you right now that I won't let anything happen without a fight. If you help me I will make it worth your while. Just play along in front of your fellow Rocket goons and let me do what I need to do."

Gary could tell Kevin was absolutely torn, waging a war in his mind; he had been forced into a life he hated with no say in any of it, yet he genuinely wanted to get out of it. There were so many factors preventing him from doing so, Gary could only hope his conscience won out in the end.

"Do you really think you can do anything against them? They won't fuck around Gary; you will be in the worst kind of danger."

Gary smirked confidently, "I have something to live for now Kevin; I won't lie down so easily. Besides, I'm an Oak; I don't lose."

Kevin ran a hand through his short black hair, "How can you be so sure? I want to believe you Gary, I want to believe I can be better, I want to believe there is something for me beyond this."

Gary saw so much of himself in Kevin. Granted, Kevin's problems were far more potentially life altering than his own were, but the uneasiness, the unwillingness to properly recognise that there was something more, was something both men shared. Gary found the person to make him see these things clearly; Kevin needed someone to provide the same clarity, and that person was going to have to be Gary whether he wanted to be or not.

"Trust me Kevin, there will always be something for you at the end, you just need to want it badly enough."

He sat silently digesting Gary's words, turning them over and over in his mind, weighing the possible outcomes in his mind, asking himself the one question he needed the answer to; would it all be worth it in the end?

"KEVIN, GET OUT HERE NOW!"

A yell from outside the door grabbed their attention. With another look at Gary, Kevin opened the door and walked out, whispering something so quietly to Gary, meant for him only.

"I trust you."

**-XXX-**

It was another hour before Sam woke up. Gary had hoped they might be able to help each other undo the ropes that bound them, but both were done up too tightly to do anything about it. Gary filled him in on what was happening, and why he had been drugged; in many respects both Gary and Sam shared many of their accomplishments, both having been involved in the research since the very beginning. Sam was only too happy to help Gary with counter measures against Team Rocket but since he had never been a Pokemon trainer, he probably wouldn't be able to help too much on that front, but he had been raised knowing how to fight hand-to-hand, something that delighted Gary to no end.

Kevin came back into the room on occasion under the guise of making sure the prisoners were still tied up. He shared information such as what was happening outside, and a timeframe that they'd need to be able to attack by, not to mention strategic advice that they'd be lost without.

It was the subject of much debate of whether or not they should get out there now and fight or wait until they were nearly ready to leave and blindside them. In the end they decided that for the sake of everyone's safety, they should bide their time further. Naturally this pissed Gary right off; he wanted to get it done now, his first thoughts for saving the Pokemon and the research.

"If you go out there now, Pokemon blazing, they will shoot you. Wait until they're distracted and then make your move. I'll give you the signal."

Gary suddenly found himself longing for the idiot Team Rocket members he bumped into whenever Ash was around, "But if we go out there now we have the advantage of surprising them."

"Do you really want to shock and surprise someone holding a firearm?" Sam deadpanned.

Gary sighed and fell back; of course Sam was right. "Fair enough."

"Look guys, Team Rocket are on a tight schedule here. They need to be finished here by 5pm and it's," he glanced at his watch, "3.32pm now. There isn't a lot of time anymore. This needs to be done and done soon."

"What do you suggest then?"

"Well, for the size of the mission, there aren't that many Rockets here today, only eight including me. There's one guarding out the front, me in here with you two, and the rest are in the process of collecting the Pokemon. You'd be pleased to know Gary that they aren't making it easy for them at all; they still fight and they fight well. In fact, when this is over I think you should look into testing their strength but for now, I might be able to distract the guard somehow and make it so you can get past. While they're outside they shouldn't be holding their guns so Sam might be able to fight them or something."

"I should be able to do that. Are Rockets trained to fight hand to hand?"

"The higher ups are, but no one here is higher than a level 5 except Jason, but he's gone at the moment."

"Where has he gone?"

"To make 'final preparations' he said. I have no idea what he means by that; none of us do."

"Well, that sounds absolutely terrifying. Can you let us out?"

"I've loosened your ropes enough that you should be able to wiggle out but I can't untie you completely without drawing attention to myself seeing as how I'm the only one checking on you or on the off chance that someone else checks. I'll come back and open the door slightly when it's a good time for you to come out."

The men exchanged looks of understanding before Kevin left the room, allowing Gary and Sam to break free from their restraints.

As soon as he had his hands free, Gary's hands flew to his neck, feeling for the Pokeball kept there. Pushing the button he released his ever faithful Umbreon. There was no doubt in Gary's mind that his Umbreon was his strongest partner.

"Umbreon?" the black cat-like Pokemon looked up at her Trainer with her wide, unblinking yellow eyes. "We need your help."

**-XXX-**

Gary was hungry.

And kind of thirsty too.

Unfortunately since everyone bought outside food on their lunch breaks, the only food options in the staff room were old sugar cubes and teabags; maybe a sachet of vinegar or mustard if you looked hard enough.

Their plan had been set and agreed upon; they were now waiting for the signal to start. Gary, in a vintage display of Oak arrogance, was extremely confident that the plan would be a success. However this meant his mind strayed to more mundane thoughts.

_I would kill for a banana and choc chip muffin and a latte right about now. Not even a joke; literally kill for a muffin. Bloodshed will occur for a fucking muffin._

_I wonder what that new Magikarp sushi tastes like. _

_I wonder if that sandwich shop across the road still has that woman who looks like a Muppet who's had a botched facelift working there._

_I wonder what's up with Mist – whoa, no you don't._

Sam noticed the way Gary's face scrunched up in annoyance at that last thought. "Something the matter, Gary?"

"No," he replied, "I just remembered something I didn't want to remember."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

Gary laughed quietly, "Not particularly."

Sam smirked and nodded in understanding, "It's about a girl, isn't it?"

Gary's head whipped around to face him, face contorted comically, "What makes you think that?"

Sam snorted derisively, "Well, that priceless reaction of yours all but confirmed it, but not many things fluster you Gary. In spite of everything that's going on right, you've stayed remarkably calm. So I took a wild guess. I suppose I was right?"

"Maybe," said Gary grudgingly. "Not like it really matters though."

Sam scooted closer, "Do you want to talk about it? I might be able to help you out."

Gary smirked. It was far easier for him to imagine that his staff were all completely asexual rather than think about their love lives. "What makes you think you might be able to help me? I'm sure you've read the magazines; I am Gary Oak after all. Why would I have trouble with a girl?"

"And yet here sits Gary Oak, willingly admitting to having girl trouble," remarked Sam dryly, "and I'm not claiming to have all the answers for you; I'm just offering my help."

"I can't imagine you having any sort of answer Sam. If you want me to be totally honest, I always thought you were gay."

Sam threw his head back in laughter, though he did try to keep it quiet. "What the hell gave you that idea?"

Gary shrugged, "Lots of little things. Until you mentioned it I never would have believed that you could fight."

His laughter simmered down to a light chuckle, "I can assure you that I'm not gay," he flashed his left hand, showing a gold wedding band on his ring finger, "I've been married for six years now and she did not make it easy for me. From the looks of things neither is your girl."

"She's not my girl, but," Gary gave a small smile, "she wouldn't be who she is if she made it easy."

Sam got into a more comfortable position, "What's she like?"

Gary smiled slightly, "She's the only girl not to shamelessly throw herself at me – "

Sam laughed, "So she bruised your ego, did she?"

"Maybe a little, but that's what she does. She brings me back down to earth; she makes me want to be a better person; I have more fun with her than with anyone else; she is the most incredible girl I've ever known. And while it makes me feel like a giant bloody pansy, I feel lost here without her, like I'm not grounded anymore. I think I actually need her." _Wow, I actually feel lighter._

Sam snickered to himself, "You've got it bad, man!"

Gary stared mindlessly at the ceiling as though it held all the answers. "Yeah, I do. And there's not a damn thing I can do about it."

"What makes you think that?"

"I promised I'd never make a move like that on her, and even if I hadn't made that promise I doubt very much she'd want anything to do with me in that way."

"You must be friendly at least with her if she makes you feel the way you do."

"I'd go so far as to say she's become my best friend; she seems to know me far better than I know myself, but that's all we'll ever be."

"Do you have a picture of her?" Sam asked.

"Why do you want to see a picture?"

"I'd love to put a face to the girl who has driven the Great Gary Oak insane!"

Scowling slightly Gary pulled out his wallet from his pocket, producing from it the same picture of him and Misty that resided on her bedside table. He passed it over to Sam who whistled lowly.

"Misty Waterflower is the girl?" he asked, shocked.

"Why is that so surprising? And how do you know who she is anyway?"

Sam grinned slyly, "Of all the female Gym Leaders, she's a bit of a pin up. A gorgeous girl with a notorious stubborn streak; perfect for you! How do you know her?"

"I kind of met her when I was a kid, but we met again about two months ago when I was on holidays."

"And you seem to think there's no chance, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

Sam studied the picture closer, "She doesn't look at you like she would a normal friend. It's a very tender look she's got on you there."

Gary scoffed, "Yeah right."

"Look at it this way; you've spent so many years having women stare at you with lust in their eyes you really can't recognise when someone looks at you with love, or at least a great liking. I can tell she's interested in you."

"We aren't about to die Sam, you don't need to try comfort me in my hour of need or tell me what I want to hear or whatever it is you're trying to do." Gary snatched the picture back and looked at it, willing himself to see what Sam did. They were both happy that day, he knew that much, and while he had to admit that Misty did look at him differently, whether or not it was a look of love he didn't know.

Sam sighed, annoyed, "I suppose you'll get it in your own time, but you need to promise yourself that you won't give up. I'm almost certain you won't regret it."

The door swung open hurriedly, and Kevin all but bolted in, out of breath and incredibly flustered. "It has to be now."

"What?" Gary stood up and looked at the young man. "Why?"

"You remember when I said Jason was working on the 'final preparations'?" both men nodded in response, "well, I just found out that that means the building has been rigged to explode."

"WHAT?" Both men stood up, shocked and though they'd never admit, scared as hell.

"They never intended for you to live through this Gary, but you don't have long; you've got to go NOW!"

Gary was livid; every fiber of his being coiled and ready to fight for what was his. "How long?"

"About half an hour, but for fucks' sake, GO!"

Gary beckoned Sam to follow him out the door, Kevin standing in front of them to keep watch. "OK, we can go. Gary, get outside and try to recall the Pokemon that are left. Team Rocket has already taken some of the weaker ones but they're having problems with your larger, more aggressive ones. Sam, if you have a magic karate chop to make them pass out instantly, we could certainly use it."

"We can use Umbreon." At the mention of its name, Umbreon skulked out of the shadows, seemingly apparating out of nowhere. "I didn't want to do it at first because the hypnotic waves Umbreon puts out are damaging to humans, but I don't think we're left with a whole lot of choice anymore." Gary kneeled down so he was level with the dark Pokemon, giving it specific orders to use its Hypnosis attack on any Rocket members (except Kevin, of course) at full power. With a nod of understanding Umbreon disappeared once more, almost dissolving into the shadows once more.

"Give her a few minutes." Gary said simply.

"What do you mean her Hypnosis is dangerous?" asked Sam.

"Her Hypnosis has a strange effect on the human brain. Instead of a temporary sleep it puts them into an almost coma-like state, and they usually wake up about a week later with severe migraine headaches lasting a few days." He shuddered remembering when it had happened to him accidentally. "Not pleasant."

Both men stared at Gary like he'd grown another head, "Why the hell didn't you suggest this ages ago?" they yelled simultaneously.

Gary crossed his arms across his chest and huffed indignantly, "I thought we'd be able to battle it out like normal people. Clearly I was wrong in thinking Team Rocket had even a shred of decency, but if they're rigging buildings to explode then I'll fight dirty too. Now I don't give a shit how they'll wake up."

At that moment Umbreon came bounding back, clearly very proud of itself and its handiwork.

"Did you get all of them?" The dark type nodded in affirmation, "Kevin, grab the Pokeballs. I'm going to need your help recalling what's left."

The three men left the room slowly, just in case. As they had hoped, the other Team Rocket members were slumped on the floor in deep sleeps. None of them were going to wake any time in the near future. Sam stalked the building, looking for anything else the Rockets may have planted beforehand. Grabbing the balls, Kevin and Gary went outside to the pools, recalling what they could; many had also been put to sleep by the Hypnosis attack, which made recalling the incredibly pale, ice blue Gyarados much easier.

Between them both, Gary and Kevin recalled all the Pokemon quickly with the exception of two Golduck who were thankfully still awake. Not for the first time Gary felt incredibly pleased in the knowledge that all the Pokemon in his lab were caught properly, and recognised him as their master/trainer/partner and would listen to his orders if required.

"Golduck! There should be six sleeping bodies inside. I need you to use your Psychic attack to lift them and get them far away from here. Can you do that?"

The Golduck nodded and ran off, eyes glowing purple with their Psychic power. Gary handed the bag of Pokeballs to Kevin who took them off him. "I'm counting on you. Get these to my house and wait there for me, OK?"

"You can trust me. Thank you so much for helping me find a way out of this."

"Don't thank me just yet; we still need to get out of here first. How much longer do we have?"

"About fifteen minutes. You have time Gary but don't fuck around OK?" Kevin handed Gary the gun he'd been holding earlier. He took it and stared at it, not knowing what to do with it. "I hope you don't need to use it, but remember what I said; they aren't the same Team Rocket anymore."

Gary shook his head and gave the weapon back. "Give it to Sam instead. I have Umbreon so he'll probably need it more than me. What about my research? Jason and the others took my paperwork, didn't they?"

Kevin reached into a satchel bag hanging off his shoulder and pulled out some folders bound with rubber bands and some notebooks. "This was all I could grab without them noticing me. They took everything else but I might be able to do something about getting it back if I can get into the headquarters back in Viridian City."

Gary shook his head, "You're doing everything you can to get away from this life. I have copies and backups of most of it back home, so it's fine. Just take that back to my house and stay safe, OK?"

Kevin nodded, "I owe you way too much Gary, thank you."

Gary extended his hand, "Don't thank me just yet. Good luck Kevin."

Smirking, Kevin reached out and took Gary's hand in a (very manly) handshake, "You too, Gary. Now hurry the fuck up!"

With one last look both men took off in opposite directions; Kevin taking the bag of Pokemon back to Gary's house and Gary going back into the lab to see what else could be salvaged. Gary was many things but he was no bomb expert; whether he liked it or not, the lab was going to explode.

He sifted through paperwork and other random office supplies that littered the area. Nothing worth keeping if he was being completely honest with himself, though his strange fondness for stationery supplies did make him want to save all the notebooks and pens he could. The tanks were empty; they had been due to survey some Goldeen that had a green tinge to them. It pissed Gary off that they were taken but a more rational side of him said it wasn't a huge loss, only a small portion of the full number of Goldeen were kept in the indoor tanks at any one time. It was more a matter of pride than personal loss.

A sudden set of footsteps caused Gary whirl around. Expecting to see Sam or Kevin behind him, Gary was surprised (though he did sort of expect it) to find himself face to face with Jason.

He gave a sickly sort of laugh, lacing it with as much arrogant confidence as he could muster. "You aren't going to win today, Oak."

Gary knew there wasn't much time to stall the other man, so he just went for it, "Why me? Other labs were conducting similar research, why not target them?"

"Because you are young and stupid, Oak." Each word was punctuated with another step forward until he was barely inches away from Gary. "You had two Team Rocket moles under your nose for a year and you didn't pick up on a damn thing. All we had to do was wait for the other labs to send you their Pokemon and make our move."

Gary stood defiant. "I won't pretend to be surprised or impressed anymore Jason. I won't simper and pander to your overinflated ego. Everything you've done up to this point has been to serve yourself and Team Rocket so congratulations, you did it. Now battle me."

Jason threw his head back in borderline maniacal laughter. "That isn't how we do things anymore Oak. Too much can go wrong in a battle, and I'm the first to admit us Rockets don't have the type of bond required to make a Pokemon a viable battling partner." He fingered his belt, "We prefer to do things a little differently now, getting straight to the point. Bluntly, we don't fuck around anymore. We find something we want, and we take it, no questions asked."

He pulled out a large gun and aimed it at Gary who tried not to let his nervousness show. "I'm sure you can understand why this needs to be done Oak; there can't be any loose ends, and you are exactly that." He cocked the gun and held the trigger, preparing to pull.

Gary saw a flash of movement over Jason's shoulder and heaved a silent sigh of relief. "You're right. There can't be any loose ends." He squeezed his eyes shut and felt the bang of the gun all around him.

The aftermath washed over him. Gary opened his eyes to see Jason slumped over the floor in front of him in a pool of blood, Sam standing further behind, barrel of his gun still smoking. Both men were breathing heavily, the seriousness of the situation only now hitting them.

"Gary?" Sam walked closer; Gary seemed to be rooted to the spot in shock. "Gary, you have to leave. Grab the security tapes and get out NOW!"

Something akin to a bolt of electricity shot through Gary, making him feel more alert than ever. With a nod in the direction of Sam he ran to his office, grabbing the security tapes which would have everything that occurred over the day on them. He ran out of the building and down along the beach, Sam not far behind, in the direction of his house. They came across the Golduck and the unconscious Rocket members further down, awaiting further instructions. As he was about to open his mouth, there was a large explosion.

For the past few years Gary had spent nearly every day in that lab. It was where his discoveries were made, it was where he had been able to make a name for himself as a researcher, and it was one of three places in the entire world where he had ever felt like a success. As his lab went up in smoke, he stared on in shock, not entirely knowing what he would do next.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN:** I didn't even plan on whacking a Team Rocket chapter into this story when I started it so I hope it turned out alright. It's the only chapter I didn't have properly drafted notes for, so I apologise if it's choppy, or just plain bad!

Yeah, Gary likes stationery, so what? You should have seen me back in the day when I was doing back to school shopping! I still do buy ludicrous amounts of stationery!

Please leave a review! A lack of reviews correlates directly to a lack of motivation to write, you know! Plus for close to 4000 hits on this story, I have 24 reviews. That equates to 0.6% of readers reviewing, and most of my lovely reviewers have done so more than once. If you are reading and enjoying this story then PLEASE leave a review.

And to my Australian readers, happy belated Australia Day! Hope you had a good one :)


	12. Chapter 11: Homecoming

Well, here we are once more! One of my favourite stories (finally!) got updated so I got this one done extra fast since I was happy! Around now the genre of the story changes somewhat; we had some action last chapter, and there'll be another element added this chapter onwards. I'll be keeping the humourous elements (the romance comes later people!), but now there will be other stuff added from here on out; just to keep you all on your toes! FYI, this chapter follows on about 3-4 hours after the events of the last.

**DISCLAIMER: **It stuns me that I need to continuously insert these disclaimers. Even if I said I owned Pokemon, would anyone believe me? No, you'd be wondering why I'm not doing all I can to make the anime completely Gary-centric! There's your damn proof!

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 11: 'Homecoming'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Gary and Kevin stood at opposite sides of the kitchen counter, staring each other down. Gary had long since finished sorting everything out with the local police, and returned to his house to find Kevin and sort through the saved Pokemon and whatever else had been salvaged. Conversation had turned to a topic Kevin was not at all comfortable with; what his next move was going to be.

"You want to try and get me a position in his lab? After everything I put you through?" asked Kevin, shocked that such a ludicrous thing would even be suggested.

"Well, apart from the _very_ obvious reasons why I shouldn't," Gary smirked as Kevin blushed and muttered something under his breath, "I do believe I owe you something for everything you did today, or rather everything you didn't do. You helped me even when you didn't have to, and I am perfectly willing and able to help you. You can change your name and hide from Team Rocket; Pallet Town would be a perfect place to start a new life."

"I don't want you to feel obligated to help a charity case. I can find my own way, you know."

"But that's not how I feel about it at all. And no you can't."

Kevin slumped over the bench and held his head in his hands, "After everything I've done, and what I very nearly did to you, why would your grandfather, one of the greatest minds the Pokemon world has ever seen, trust me enough to work at his lab?"

"Well, he's already got one untrustworthy bastard on staff…" Gary muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Besides, you didn't do any of it, and you proved I could trust you, there's no reason you can't prove that to him." reasoned Gary.

"Yeah, but – "

"Oh for fucks' sake, are you coming or not?"

After a year working in that lab, Gary's outbursts, however minor or well-meaning, still freaked the teenager right out. "Arceus Gary, fine! I'll come back to Kanto with you!"

**-XXX-**

The ringing of the phone reverberated around the house, distracting the two men from packing. Gary groaned; there had been so many calls already from the press already, more than he cared to count, and still none from the one person he truly believed would call. He wasn't sure what possessed him to walk over and pick up the phone, probably the thought that Misty might be on the other end. He tried to keep the disappointment from showing when he turned on the screen and found himself face to face with his grandfather and Delia, both of whom looked overcome with relief to see that Gary was OK.

"_Gary! Are you OK? What happened? It was all over the news but they weren't saying much and – "_

"GRAMPS!" Gary snapped. The couple fixed him with a hard gaze. Gary sighed, defeated; there was no way they were going to wait until morning. "You guys comfortable? It's a long story."

They nodded furiously. Gary took a deep breath and started from the top.

"…and then Sam here shot him, allowing us to get away. We watched the lab go up in smoke from on the beach. The cops came, we talked, I showed them the surveillance footage and they didn't press any charges against Sam since they believed his actions were justified but they did take the other Rockets with them, though they won't wake up for another week. That about sums it up, Gramps."

Professor Oak listened to the entire tale of Gary's day from hell with a slack jaw; he couldn't believe his grandson was describing something so horrific so candidly. The Sunyshore Lab explosion made the news in all regions, not to mention the fact that there was a charred body in the rubble (he tried not to feel relieved at the fact that it was the team leader, who had pulled a gun on his grandson and rigged the building to explode, that died), and it had taken a great deal of persistence on the Professors' part to get through to Gary when the press were also hounding him for a statement as they were.

The older man rubbed his eyes tiredly, shock written all over his face. Delia was sitting by his side, her lip quivering, looking to be on the verge of tears. _"Are you and the others alright? None of you were hurt, were you?"_

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Nah, we were fine. A couple of scrapes but nothing major."

The professor looked doubtful. _"Gary, your livelihood went up in smoke yesterday. Are you sure you're OK?"_

"Yes! Arceus, Gramps! I'm dealing with it!"

"_And all of your Pokemon are safe?"_

"Well, Team Rocket did make off with the Goldeen and Seaking, but that was the worst of it. The others fought back."

"_And your research?"_ he probed.

"The original paper based research is gone but I still have backups here at home."

"_Well, what are you going to do now?"_

Gary had been contemplating that question since he saw the first plume of smoke drift from the lab. Realistically speaking, there was no legitimate for him to stay in Sinnoh if his lab was no longer there. Plus returning home had been on Gary's mind for a while even before the incident; his house no longer felt like his home, and he wanted to be closer to the more important people in his life. Plus his previous holiday time had made him realise just how much he missed the Kanto region in general, which in his opinion was far more scenic and welcoming than Sinnoh.

"I think I might come home for a while, regroup and sort out my next move. All of this was a shock, to say the least."

'_I think that's a splendid idea Gary. Will you come back here or look for your own place?"_

"If it's OK with you, I'd like to come back to the Mansion for a while."

"_Of course it's OK Gary! How could you ever think otherwise? After all you've been through and…" _Delia finally burst out crying; she had always been overly sensitive. Gary could only look on awkwardly as his grandfather comforted her, gently rubbing her back.

"I'm going to be bringing someone with me too."

Both looked up at Gary and eyed him strangely, even Delia stopped crying. _"It's not a woman, is it?"_ they asked in unison.

"WHAT? No, of course not! I… I don't do that anymore…" he trailed off, noticing how their shoulders sagged in relief.

"_Who are you bringing then?" _asked the Professor.

"Someone I owe a favour to. You'll meet him when I come back."

"_Someone who worked in the lab?"_

"Um…I guess you could say that. I certainly thought he worked there…"

"_What on earth do you mean by that?"_

"You have to promise not to panic and not pass judgment on him."

The couple looked at each other contemplatively, and then back to Gary again, _"__Alright, we can promise that."_

He looked over his shoulder and saw Kevin standing not too far away, eating an apple. "I don't want to explain over the phone, it's a long story, but keep that promise in mind when I get back, OK?"

"_When will you be getting back?"_

Gary sighed heavily, "As soon as possible; if I can get the packing done then in about two days. I don't want to stuff around too much, and I really want to come home."

Delia smiled slyly, _"This desire to come back__ so soon wouldn't have anything to do with a certain red haired Gym Leader would it?"_

Gary cursed his traitorous body when he felt himself blush; he'd never be able to lie to Delia. "…maybe she's _part _of the reason." He mumbled under his breath.

"_Has she tried to call you yet? We thought she'd be the first to call you.__"_ Delia was doing an exceptional job at keeping the elder Professor out of the conversation now, almost pushing him out of the seat now that they were on a topic she had a vested interest in. If it wasn't going to be Ash, it sure as hell was going to be Gary.

"No, I haven't heard from her. I haven't for about a week actually. Do you know if there's anything happening over in Cerulean? We usually talk most mornings." Gary tried to keep the worry from coming through in his voice.

The couple shook their heads, _"Nothing we've heard of. Though Tracey did mention running into her last week at a bar."_

Gary visibly bristled at the mention of Tracey and didn't bother trying to hide the fact that he hated the other man with a passion. "Why would Tracey… and at a bar? But - Actually it doesn't matter; I'll deal with it when I get back."

"_Something on your mind, Gary?"_

"It's nothing that can't wait. It's pretty late guys; I might try to get some sleep."

"_Gary, its 9pm on a S__aturday night."_ Delia deadpanned, as though what Gary should be doing at this time and on this day should be obvious.

"I already said I don't do that anymore. Besides, after the day I've had – "

At that, Delia burst into tears once more. _"I can't believe__ I said that! Oh Arceus, of course you want to sleep! I'm a terrible human being…__"_

Gary watched on as Delia got up and walked away, burying her face in a handkerchief. "It's fine Delia…" he called awkwardly after her.

Professor Oak watched her with a sigh as she walked away. _"I should probably go fix that. Good__ night Gary, I'm glad you're safe."_

"Thanks Gramps. I'll see you in a few days."

"_I look forward to it. Sleep well." _The screen faded to black as they both hung up.

**-XXX-**

Gary wasn't able to sleep, though after the day's events it didn't surprise him.

It wasn't because he didn't try; sleep, the fickle bitch it was, came in intermittent bursts of twenty minute periods over the course of six hours. Rather than feeling refreshed, Gary was immensely frustrated.

Getting up, he walked slowly down the stairs. It was barely 3am, and the glow of the full moon outside cast pale light across the empty house making it appear more desolate than ever. Returning home had been on his mind for a very long time, but only now did it feel right; now he was ready.

Pouring himself a glass of water from the tap, he looked at the cardboard boxes around him. He had felt this sensation the first time he moved out to live on his own, the incredibly odd feeling of seeing your life packed away, condensed into ten or so boxes, wondering 'is this really all I have to show for myself?'

Granted, Gary knew he had come a long way the past few months, no longer drinking himself into oblivion and shagging any woman willing to spread her legs whenever he felt starved for attention or lonely as hell, but there were times still where he doubted himself immeasurably. Yesterday was one of those days.

He liked to think he handled the affairs of the day rather well; he hadn't completely flipped out, he remained calm and even had a few good ideas to throw into the mix that he knew would have been _awesome_ had everything not gone to shit at the announcement of explosives being used. It wasn't the situation itself that was making him feel so doubtful; it was how it all came to happen. Two moles from Team Rocket camped out in his lab right under his nose! Yes, one of them was a defenseless teenager basically forced against his will to perform the biddings of the biggest criminal syndicate Kanto had ever seen but the other one, as the events of the day had proven, was borderline psychotic! Gary prided himself on his ability to read people; how the fuck had he missed that?

_Jason was right, I am young and stupid._

Drinking the water in one uninterrupted gulp, Gary placed the cup back onto the sink and walked into his office, to the one thing that couldn't be packed into a box.

He often came and stared at the egg in the incubator, losing track of time as it floated gently in the warm water, casting the familiar blue rippled light. That blue light was the only sense of familiarity he had left in this house. He wasn't sure if it was a trick of his mind or not but the egg appeared to move sometimes. Only another month and a half or so until the egg hatched and he'd be able to begin a new tangent in his research. Was it strange for a guy to be so damn excited over an egg hatching?

The Oak lab was another one of the three places he felt like a success; Gary was more than pleased to think that he'd be able to continue his research there, though he knew that snapping and punching Tracey once more was a huge possibility. Not for the first time Gary wondered why on earth someone like Misty was friends with such a pretentious twat.

Flights had been booked for Gary and Kevin to return to Kanto later that day. With any luck he'd be back home in Pallet Town by dinner time. After hearing that Tracey had seen Misty at a bar it was all he could do not to bombard the girl with phone calls demanding an explanation. The sheer combination of factors at work there was unbelievable, and Gary was pulling his hair out not knowing what the hell was going on. He wasn't sure if his already limited patience would hold out until he got home to find out what was going on for himself.

Resigning himself to the fact that it was incredibly unlikely that he'd ever be able to sleep at the moment, Gary took himself back upstairs and back to bed. If he wasn't going to be able to sleep then the least he could do was lie down and try to at least relax, even if his head was drowning in thoughts he had no control over.

**-XXX-**

Gary loved flying. He liked to think that maybe if being a researcher hadn't worked out he might have become a pilot. While being in a plane didn't compare to the days where he'd ride on his Pidgeot for the sheer thrill of it, there would always be for Gary something inherently romantic about knowing you were up in the air, heading somewhere new and exciting.

He was sort of pissed off with young Kevin for not seeing it this way, and because he'd declined to mention that he was, in his words, 'a terrible flyer'. That was an understatement if ever Gary had heard one.

Kevin spent the majority of the flight on the aisle seat as he couldn't stomach being able to see out the window, plus he was more able to make his frequent mad dashes to the toilet that way. If it wasn't the motion sickness making Kevin as ill as it was; it was the scent of airline food. As the cart was being wheeled up and down the aisle Gary could swear the teenager was actually turning green. He paid the ultimate price however when, since the food cart and the hostesses were in the aisle, the toilet was no longer an option, and Kevin vomited all over Gary's food and lap.

Needless to say, Gary didn't much like flying anymore.

They disembarked the plane five hours later at the Pewter City Airport, not wanting to take any chances landing in Viridian City lest any lingering Team Rocket members recognised Kevin, though Gary didn't mind admitting he'd probably happily hand him over after that flight. The hostesses were a little enthusiastic in their efforts to help clean Gary, offering him pajamas that were given to those flying first class (where Gary might ordinarily be sitting had he not booked tickets a day in advance, or babysitting a sick teen) and while they couldn't offer a shower, they made up for it in wet towels.

Shooting Kevin dirty looks while his back was turned, both men grabbed their suitcases and made their way through the security checks and out of the airport, ignoring the odd looks Gary was getting. A driver was waiting for them out the front, ready to load their bags into the back and take them on the agonizingly long three hour drive back to Pallet Town.

_Whatever. At least I'm dressed for it._

Thankfully Kevin tolerated this mode of transportation far better than he handled the plane, falling asleep as soon as the driver pulled out of the airport and began the drive down the Route 2 Highway, bypassing Viridian Forest, all the way to Pallet.

Pulling up at the Oak Mansion, Gary took his bags and paid the driver. He smiled when he noticed the lights were still on despite the fact that it was almost midnight. Given the lack of sleep he'd had the previous night, and the fact that there was not a snowflake's chance in hell of him being able to sleep on the plane, Gary was surprised he was functioning as well as he was.

He trudged the well-worn path to the front door, dragging his bag behind him, and knocked. Gary had no idea what made him knock every time; the Oak Mansion would always be home to him. Waiting patiently, he turned and noticed Kevin was still standing at the foot of the driveway looking so nervous Gary thought he might vomit again. Against his better judgment, Gary beckoned for the teen to follow him. As he turned back to the door, a bleary-eyed Professor Oak and Delia answered the door.

Gary stood on the threshold a little longer than he might have like, under intense scrutiny, as though they were looking to see that Gary was still intact and not about to fall apart before their eyes.

He sighed in mock annoyance and smirked, stepping forward and enveloping the two in a hug, effectively ending their study of his countenance. Professor Oak glanced over his grandsons' shoulder, catching the eye of Kevin who was slowly making his way towards the house. As the hug broke, Gary turned around and grabbed Kevin by the wrist, pulling him the rest of the distance.

"Gramps, Delia, this is Kevin. He helped out a lot yesterday."

Professor Oak moved forward to shake Kevin's hand, oblivious to his pale face, clammy skin and wide unblinking eyes. "A pleasure to meet you, young man. Are you alright after yesterday's events?"

Kevin didn't trust himself to open his mouth; his only response a halfhearted nod of the head.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need; there's plenty of space. I'll show you to a guest room if you'd like?"

Again, all Kevin could do was nod. It struck Gary that he could probably help the poor kid out, but that just wasn't quite how he worked, plus payback was still in order. Smirking, he simply stood back and waited for the inevitable to happen.

Professor Oak cleared his throat, confused by the absolute lack of reaction he was getting from Kevin. "Would you like to come in now?"

That was the tipping point; Kevin emptied the contents of his stomach all over the front door mat and over the Professors' slippers. Delia bought a hand to cover her mouth and gasped; the elder Oak just looked shocked; Kevin's skin was burning hot and ice cold by turns, while Gary burst out laughing.

"He's your biggest fan, Gramps!"

**-XXX-**

The following morning, Gary woke with a smile on his face. It felt good to be sleeping in his old bed once more.

Throwing off the blankets he ambled toward the bathroom to perform his usual morning routine that had barely changed since he finished potty training and was old enough to sleep in his own room.

He walked slowly downstairs, not trusting his strength upon waking and came into the kitchen, finding no one there besides his grandfather who had yet to notice Gary standing the doorway, far too absorbed in the newspaper in front of him. In his mind Gary thanked any and every deity listening that Tracey wasn't there that morning.

Silently, Gary weighed up the pros and cons of playing games and scaring the old man.

_Pro; it'd be funny!_

_Con; I'd probably kill him._

_Pro; I haven't done anything like this since leaving on my trainer journey. _

_Con; …it'd still probably kill him_

Deciding it'd probably be best not to add murder to his list of moral corruptions; Gary cleared his throat and walked toward the fridge. "Morning gramps."

Despite every effort to the contrary Professor Oak still gave a start, jumping violently in surprise. "Gary, you scared me."

_Yay!_

Gary shrugged noncommittally before bringing a hand down to slap the elder Oak's shoulder playfully. "Sorry gramps, I didn't actually mean to." He began rifling through the cupboards and fridge. "What's for breakfast?"

The professor raised an eyebrow wryly and sipped his tea, "You've barely been back twelve hours and you're already so at home, demanding food."

Gary snickered quietly, "I missed you too gramps! But seriously, food! What have we got?"

"I had half a grapefruit for breakfast."

Gary wrinkled his nose in distaste but continued to peruse the cupboards, "Did Delia put you on another stupid diet?"

"No, it was the doctor this time. I have to get on top of this damn high cholesterol. And apparently I'm stressed too."

Gary snorted derisively, "Yeah, I'd agree with that assessment."

"What does that mean?"

"That I can't remember a time that you weren't stressed. I thought hiring that asshole – "

"Are you ever going to tell me what you have against Tracey?"

"Another day perhaps. Anyway, I thought when you hired him you might not be as stressed since there'd be someone to share the load, but it only made it worse! Tracey is, at best, an over eager Pokemon Professor fan that feeds the starters and draws their portraits! He doesn't really help at all!"

"What are you trying to say Gary?"

"That your doctor has a point, and I'm trying to make you a proposition."

The elder Oak looked over his newspaper and locked eyes with his grandson. "Do you want a job, Gary?"

"No, I have my own research to do. Actually I was hoping you could give Kevin a job." Gary finally settled on a tub of strawberry yoghurt from the fridge, picked a spoon from the drawer and sat at the table.

"That boy you bought with you? Why does he need a job here?"

"You remember the promise I made you make, that you wouldn't panic or judge Kevin?"

"Yes, why?"

"Would you rather Delia be here for this or should I explain the whole saga to you now?"

The professor seemed wary, "I'll tell her later, now what exactly is it you aren't telling me?"

Gary launched into Kevin's story, explaining everything from the deal that was made which promised him to Team Rocket, to the day he tried to escape Gary's lab only to return a week later with a broken wrist and a babysitter, to his efforts to help him and Sam on the day itself, not to mention his efforts saving the remaining lab Pokemon and taking them somewhere safe, and explaining Kevin's desire to abandon that life and start anew.

The professor listened to the story with a slack jaw at these revelations. In truth he had always held a degree of sympathy for those who chose to get involved in organizations such as Team Rocket, something terrible must have happened in their lives for them to feel like they had no other options, but the sympathy he held for Kevin, someone forced into the situation completely against his will and to be threatened with death if he tried to escape, his heart broke for the poor boy.

"Did he ever mention the circumstances of the bet that was made?"

"No," Gary replied. "He never mentioned anything and I didn't want to pry given everything that was happening. All I know for sure is that I'd be dead if it weren't for him, and I owe him something. He was actually a good worker, knew what he was doing around the lab and everything. I think he'd make an excellent lab assistant for you."

"And you believe he can be trusted?"

"After everything he did I have no doubt about it."

Professor Oak sighed, "I'll give him a chance. He's had a rough time of it and he deserves another chance but if anything happens Gary I swear, it'll be on your head."

Gary grinned, "You won't regret it, and I'll be here to watch him the whole time, remember?"

The professor smiled as he took another sip of tea, "You mean you'll watch him between your visits to Cerulean, correct?"

Gary looked away, "I don't think I'll be going to Cerulean any time soon."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Um, because I'll be so busy settling back in here," he answered a little too quickly. "What time is it?"

The professor glanced at his watch, "It's almost 9am, why?"

"The movers should be here any minute with mine and Kevin's things. I had to give them the incubator and I'm worried it hasn't been kept warm enough and I just want to set it all back up and have it hatch!"

"You paid extra to have it kept warm though, didn't you?"

"I did, but you know as well as I do most of those companies don't listen to a word you say."

"I'm sure it'll be fine Gary. Most Pokemon eggs survive at least another 12 hours if for some reason they aren't kept warm anyway."

"I guess you're right." At that moment Kevin entered the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Gary smirked slyly, "Feeling better today Kev?"

He groaned and flushed a bright red, "Yes, much better now, thanks Gary." He muttered in Gary's direction. Turning he faced the elder Oak, his face the very picture of contrition. "Good morning Professor Oak. I am so sorry about last night."

The professor merely waved a hand, dismissing the apology, "Don't worry about it my boy! Truth be told I'm a lousy flyer myself and I stay sick for a good deal of time afterwards."

"Well, either way I am sorry. I'll buy a new doormat."

"No need; we already have Tracey." Gary piped in.

"Gary," the professor sent a warning glance to his grandson who simply sniggered, "That won't be necessary Kevin. In fact, we were just talking about you and what Gary owes you."

"He doesn't owe me anything sir; I was simply doing what was right."

"And you should be commended for it, but Gary had another thought in mind; would you like a job here?"

"Are you serious?" The professor nodded, "Why would you want an ex- Rocket on staff?"

"Not this again!" Gary groaned.

"Kevin, Gary and I both believe you have proven yourself worthy of a second chance. Gary actually highly recommended you, said you were a fantastic lab assistant." He took another sip of tea and looked over at Kevin who had turned bright red again.

"But would you trust me?"

"Gary trusts you and I trust his judgment now will you take the job or not? I don't offer jobs to just anyone, you know!"

"I'd be happy to take a job here but – "

"Oh for Arceus' sake, what the bloody hell now?" exclaimed Gary.

"I have nowhere to live." Kevin deadpanned.

"You'll live here, Kevin. There is more than enough room in the Mansion, even with Gary and Tracey living here, and we'd be happy to have you."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course he's sure! He doesn't say a damn word if he's not sure about it!"

"He's right on that count Kevin, so I'll ask one more time; would you like a job and a room here?"

Finally, Kevin sighed and smiled. "Yes, I'd like that a lot."

"Splendid! Consider the room you stayed in yours. Gary can help you set everything up when the movers come and deliver your things." At that the sound of a truck pulling up filled their ears. "I guess that's them now."

Both Gary and Kevin left the kitchen to attend to the movers. Gary could see sheer excitement and happiness reflecting in the teenager's eyes and it made him feel happy. He was thankful for the distraction provided by the movers and helping Kevin settle in. All night and most of the morning, like most nights of the past week, his thoughts drifted to Misty and the weird radio silence. Still it hurt know she persisted in ignoring him, and to think that she most likely wouldn't appreciate him calling her, but now there were other things to occupy his mind. He continued to hold out hope that she might call the lab knowing full well she sometimes spoke to Delia, and he was willing to wait however long it took for that moment.

**-XXX-**

Gary was sick of waiting.

He wasn't going to admit how much it hurt, to know that Misty would have heard some way or another about the accident and yet still be so determined to keep ignoring him, but for Gods' sake he was going to get to the bottom of it right now.

He waited until it was late before calling, knowing Misty wouldn't be doing anything. Dialing the familiar number of the Cerulean City Gym, Gary tapped his fingers impatiently against the desk as he waited for Misty to pick up the phone.

He lost count of the amount of rings that sounded as he waited. Knowing that there would be a caller ID o her phone, he could imagine Misty sitting in front of the phone, staring at it, weighing up the pros and cons of answering. It didn't matter how many times Gary had to call; he would do it as many times as needed to find out what was going on.

"_Hello Gary."_

He jumped, so lost in his own little world that he didn't even notice that Misty had picked up. "Red." He replied in a clipped tone. He noticed her eyes held wariness and a discomfort he hadn't seen since that day he arrived in Cerulean City so long ago. What the hell happened to her?

Misty shifted uncomfortably. _"I heard about what happened. I guess you're OK then?"_

"Yeah, I'm fine but I can't say the same for you. What's going on Red? You don't write, you don't call – "

"_Oh, um…I've been really busy with the Gym and all – "_

"Don't give me that crap. Not two weeks ago you told me you'd always make time for me, and I'd always make time for you. What's really happening over there?"

"_Look, Gary. Now isn't a good time…"_

"Then when is a good time Red? Look, I won't pretend that we're more than we are, but we are friends and – "

"_We aren't friends, Gary."_

He actually felt his heart stop, "…what? What are you talking about? Of course we're friends!"

"_I don't think we should be friends anymore. It doesn't work."_

"Where the fuck is this coming from? Is it something I've done?"

"_No, it's nothing like that," _Gary could tell she was obviously lying, _"I just don't believe we're better off as friends anymore."_

A wave of desperation Gary never knew he could feel washed over him. He knew he'd never forgive himself if he lost Misty, either as a friend or as something more. "You can't seriously believe that! You can't tell me that the past couple of months as friends haven't done you as much good as it has for me."

"_Gary, I can't talk right now – "_

"Like hell you can't, it's 10pm! I'm not hanging up until you give me a decent answer!"

"_Then __I'll do it for you. Bye Gary. Don't call again." _And with that, she hung up.

Gary stared disbelievingly at the screen which had since faded to static. What the hell had happened the past week? What could have possibly happened that her opinion of him would change so quickly?

"Ouch. That had to hurt."

Gary spun around quickly, coming face to face with Tracey who was leaning against the door, looking very satisfied with himself indeed. Gary wanted nothing more than to deck the smarmy bastard.

"What did you say to her?" he asked in a calm, deadly tone.

Tracey feigned a look of innocence while his eyes sparkled with intent before replying, "What makes you think I said anything?"

"You're a prick Tracey. Why would you say anything?"

"Why do you think? You aren't anywhere near good enough for her Oak. All I did was remind her of that." He replied coolly.

Gary crossed the distance between them, seizing Tracey by the collar of his shirt and slamming him into a nearby wall. "What the fuck did you say to her?"

"I just let her know that you aren't the sort of person she wants to associate herself with, what with your…_licentious _past with women. Misty seemed to agree with me if that call was any indication."

"Who are you trying to hurt Tracey? Misty for not loving you? Or me because she was spending time with me and not you?"

"Who said anything about hurting anyone?" A sadistic little smirk appeared on his face. "Misty was actually starting to like you – "

"So why would you do it? Seething jealousy or something else?" Gary asked, feeling the familiar apprehension that accompanied such observations from others creep into his veins.

"Because it was sickening, that's why. Why would a woman like Misty fall for a guy like you? I just want to make sure she didn't become a pawn in your little game. I had to help her on more than one occasion to get rid of the bastards looking to bag Misty so they would have the full set and I know your history with her sisters so I know you're no different!"

Gary loosened his grip on Tracey's shirt, paling considerably. "That's what you think I'm after? That's what Misty thinks I'm after?" he asked incredulously.

"You've given me no reason to suspect anything different. I remember how eager you were to 'help' Misty at the Gym that day; you have no reason to talk to a woman if you don't have any intention of fucking them, right?"

Gary felt the breath leave his lungs. He felt disgusted at Tracey for telling Misty such lies to feed his own jealousy, and he also felt wave upon wave of guilt that Misty believed it when objectively speaking there was no reason she shouldn't. He lowered his voice to a low, deadly whisper, tightened his hold on Tracey and continued, "You are sick Sketchit. I won't deny what I was, and that maybe yes, at the beginning I was interested in the set for reasons even I didn't quite understand but that is the absolute farthest thing from my mind now. Misty changed that about me. I don't need to explain myself to you, but you need to get it through your head that I'm in love her!"

Tracey chuckled darkly at him, "Lies. You don't know what love is Oak, and you sure as hell don't deserve it."

Gary took deep breaths to quell the anger that would surely see Tracey with a black eye and unable to eat solids, and smirked at him, "That's where you're wrong. Misty has made me a better person. In fact, if I didn't think that for some inexplicable reason she still considers you a friend, I'd have knocked you out already."

Tracey just laughed, incensing Gary further, "It doesn't even matter what you think anymore Gary. You heard the woman; she wants nothing to do with you." He shook himself out of Gary's grasp and turned to walk away.

"You know what? Fuck it." With that, Gary grabbed Tracey's shoulder and pulled him back, punching him square in the jaw. Tracey fell to ground and moaned in pain, clutching at the quickly bruising area. "That's for being a petty, jealous asshole, and because I didn't hit you anywhere near hard enough the first time."

Stepping over Tracey's writhing body, kicking him in the stomach for good measure, Gary made his way upstairs to his room. He was still livid but felt marginally better after hitting something. Kicking his shoes off, not even bothering to get undressed, he eased himself under the covers and fell asleep almost immediately, the stress of the past few days finally taking its toll on his body, his final thought of the night on the visit he would be paying to Cerulean City the next day, hoping to salvage something of the situation he now found himself in.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN:** From here on out, it's all happening! Look forward to the next couple of updates because they will be most interesting :)

You have no idea how tempted I was to drop a pregnancy angle with Professor Oak and Delia to explain how emotional she was! Then I thought it'd just be weird, so…no!

Pretty please leave a review, I do love them so! And hedge your bets for what you think is going to happen in this story! I want to see if anyone's picked up on the hints I've dropped, and if anyone picked up on the big turning point for the story that was in this chapter!


	13. Chapter 12: When it's Time

And we're back again with a monster of a chapter! This is the chapter I've been waiting for since I got the idea for this story and as such I idealised it to the point that no matter how many times I wrote it I was still unsatisfied! We have new elements to add to the story; angst, and I can't give the other away without ruining everything! And in advance I apologise to those who wanted Misty and Gary to straight up run into each other's arms; I don't do things that way, guys!

This chapter actually goes back a bit, starting the night Misty and Brock met Tracey at the bar and works up to be in line with the last chapter, then continuing.

**DISCLAIMER: **While I certainly hold out hope that the Pokemon franchise will one day be gifted to me because I'm a dedicated fan and an all-round awesome person, I am a realist; I know it's never going to happen. Sad-face :(

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 12: 'When it's Time'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Misty was the sort of person who took things at face value. Most situations were completely cut and dry, she never felt the need to delve for any hidden meaning behind anything. What was said was said and what happened, happened; that was that.

Tonight Brock was cursing this fact. Tracey's little crush on Misty was common knowledge to most in their inner circle (being anyone that had ever travelled with Ash), and Brock knew that it was all Tracey's jealousy doing the talking earlier that night.

It was proving to be a mission and a half to convince Misty of this fact.

After the events of their night out, Brock picked Misty up from the sidewalk and carried her the short distance back home. By the time they reached the front door her cries had diminished to a gentle sobbing, and to his horror she had soaked her way through Brock's fancy lady-magnet dark grey silk shirt.

Carrying Misty inside and gently placing her down on the couch, Brock prepared some tea to calm her down. He sat down beside her, passing her a cup, rubbing soothing circles on her back while she deeply inhaled the relaxing scent of the tea. "You know he didn't mean any of it Misty. Tracey's always had a thing for you; he's just jealous, OK?"

"It doesn't matter why he said it Brock," Misty replied though her tears, "it's that it's true! Gary has been with my sisters and he is being overly nice to me after coming back out of nowhere! It makes too much sense for what Tracey said not to be true!"

"You don't know that. Besides I've seen how you and Gary interact with each other. I can tell he isn't stringing you along." replied Brock, taking a sip of his own tea.

"I don't care anymore Brock." said Misty stubbornly, "I don't think I could trust Gary anymore either way."

"Don't you get it?" cried Brock passionately, "That is probably exactly what Tracey wants you to think! He figures if he can't have you then no one should! He'd probably do the same thing to me if it was me trying to date you!"

"Uh-huh, so why not Ash?" Misty challenged, "If he's so damn jealous why not break us apart too?"

"He was probably like the rest of us! Everyone was waiting for you guys to hook up. We all thought you two would be the ones to live 'happily ever after', including Tracey. No one interfered with you and Ash because our sheer curiosity wanted to see how far you two could go together."

"Glad we could be the source of such entertainment." said Misty sarcastically. "So why now?"

Brock jumped off the couch and started pacing in frustration. What the hell was he going to do with this stubborn woman? "Tracey sees how you and Gary look at each other and doesn't want to believe it. Please Misty, don't throw this away! I wasn't too happy at first but that was because of what he was like as a kid, not the man he is now, and he seems like a good man even with his past. I know you like him and I know he likes you; what you two have is completely different to what you had with Ash and it could really go somewhere if you'd let it. Please Misty, I'm one of your best friends, I'm begging you, don't let what Tracey said get to you!"

Misty let out a shaky breath, "I want to believe you Brock, but I don't think I can right now." She hopped up off the couch and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. "You remember where your room is, right?" With that, Misty turned and all but ran up the stairs, leaving Brock in the living room, watching her retreating form, shaking his head in frustration, disappointment and sympathy for his friend.

Misty threw herself through her bedroom door and tossed herself ungracefully onto the bed, burying her face in her pillow to stifle a scream. Emotions were running high within her; she was livid, devastated, and exasperated to the point that she needed to take it out on something. Fumbling around on her bedside table she picked up the first object her hand happened to land on. Bringing it back towards her, she inspected the object; it was the picture of her and Gary in front of the Oak lab. She ran her fingers across the photo, tracing the faces, staring into the picture of the two happy souls bought tears to her eyes once more; now betrayal, sadness and the hint something that could only be described as genuine affection flowed through her veins. Try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to throw the picture or damage it.

Leaning back on her pillow she clutched the picture to her chest and let out a low, moaning wail, a sound she didn't believe a person would be capable of making. Another wave of tears consumed her. She considered going back out to Brock but couldn't bear for him to see whatever this was. She believed she had been played, by someone she thought she could trust, someone she had grown to admire, someone she had grown to love. _That's what's really going on here, isn't it? Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with Gary Oak._ Tonight, after everything that had happened, the realisation of this fact made her want to cry her eyes out.

Upon hearing the bedroom door slam shut, Brock went to the fridge and pulled out a beer. He and Misty had only been out half an hour before Tracey showed up, and he hadn't nearly had his fill. Mentally Brock made plans; he originally had though to stay in Cerulean for three or four days, but now there was something he needed to do, for Misty's happiness and his own damn sanity (he refused to let Misty dance around her feelings for nine years. Again). Taking a lingering sip of his beer and smirking to himself, the last pieces of Brock's plan fell into place. Sometime soon, when he could leave Misty alone again, he'd have to make a little trip to Pallet Town.

**-XXX-**

Brock had hoped that as the week progressed, Misty might be thinking a little more clearly about everything that had happened, despite knowing full well that the prospect of Misty going back on a decision was nigh on impossible.

A man could dream though, couldn't he?

Over the course of the week Misty was still as determined as ever to follow through with her vow of never speaking to Gary again. Every time she made the declaration however, Brock could hear the conviction in her voice disappear little by little. The desire to shield herself from potential heartbreak was overwhelming to Misty; she wasn't going to allow herself to take a chance.

He divided his time between Pewter City and Cerulean, both cities quite close to each other, unwilling to leave Misty alone for an extended period while she was in such a state. Her Gym battles had suffered greatly because of her distractedness. She showed all the hallmark signs and Brock, as experienced as he was exhibiting these signs himself, knew that she had come to a realisation about her feelings and they weren't the ones she wanted. He sympathised with her, but another part of him was jumping for joy that she had reached the conclusion on her own. It would be so much easier if we could pick and choose who and how we love.

By Friday night however Misty appeared to be happy again, as though not speaking to Gary was only becoming easier and easier. Brock knew her better than that. She was detached from everything, and he knew it wasn't coming from a healthy place. It wasn't good for her to keep denying herself what she really wanted, preventing herself from being able to smile for real.

Instead of venturing out once more to go to a bar or something similar, the pair opted for a night in. Brock volunteered to cook them both dinner, and Misty happily allowed him. He bought two steaming bowls of soup down to the lounge where Misty was setting up a movie for them to watch. She had already changed into her pajamas and looked for all the world to be cozy and content. Brock knew she was anything but.

They ate their dinner in silence, the only noise of the mindless action movie echoing throughout the room. Eventually, Brock couldn't take it anymore, the silence, the dead eyes, the smile that wasn't a smile, all of it just mounted all on top of the other and it was pissing him off. Reaching forward to the coffee table in front of the couch he picked up the remote and hit the stop button.

"Hey! I was watching that!" Misty exclaimed, annoyed.

"Too bloody bad. I want to talk to you about all this!"

"All what Brock?" she smiled that dead smile and feigned ignorance, and Brock was having none of it.

"You, Gary, and that crap with Tracey," he ignored the way she rolled her eyes in exasperation. "You may not want to talk about it, but you need to Misty so please, what's going on?"

"You know what's going on Brock. You were there, I already explained myself. There's nothing else to say." She replied quietly.

"But there is," he countered lightly, "you love him, don't you?"

She didn't reply but Brock didn't miss the way her eyes filled with tears at the question. He might have been imagining things when he thought he saw her nod her head slightly.

He took her hands gently between his own. "So what are you doing to yourself Misty? Why ignore him like this when you don't have the whole story?"

She sighed shakily and held her head in her hands. "Because it's too much Brock! What Tracey said, whether it's true or not, it's too much. Too much to risk."

Brock laughed slightly, "You used to be such a diehard romantic Misty. What happened to her? She wouldn't have let anything stand between her and love."

Misty gave a small noise which was somewhere between a sniffle and a giggle, "After everything Brock, I think I've earned the right to be a little cynical now. What Tracey said would make anyone doubt everything."

He leaned back on the chair and let out a deep breath. "Maybe so. I'd probably feel the same way if I was told I could potentially be nothing more than a potential collector's item to the person I was in love with, but I'd still want a proper explanation."

"I really don't think I can do it Brock. Like I said before, it almost makes too much sense to not be true. I don't want to believe it but every rational thinking part of my brain is telling me to."

Brock laughed, "I don't think your brain is very rational at all Misty!"

"Yours wouldn't be either if you were told the guy you love might want nothing more than to nail you for the prestige that came with it!" she shot back.

"Touché. But still, I think you should talk to him."

She sighed. "I'll think about it."

"That's the best I'm going to get, isn't it?" she nodded, "Fine!" he exclaimed in an exaggerated fashion, before leaning forward to grab the remote again to hit the play button once more.

**-XXX-**

It was all over the news.

The Team Rocket assault on the Sunyshore Pokemon Laboratory made news headlines across every region. Not because their usual goal of Pokemon thievery ended in embarrassment for the once mighty syndicate, but because of the aftermath; the lab going up in an explosion, a dead body found inside.

Brock watched Misty's face as silent worry and panic overtook her until Gary's face appeared on screen as though to reassure her that he actually was OK. He saw her let out a deep breath of relief and gently rubbed circles on her back to try and relax her breathing which was staggered and had her gasping.

"You really should call him."

"Not right now."

Brock saw her staring at the phone for most of the night and the following day. If he didn't know he'd be at the mercy of Misty and her mallet he would have dialed the number for her. He continued to gently prod her, hoping she'd do it herself.

"You know he'd want to hear from you, right?"

"But I don't know where he is right now."

It was a fair enough point. If your livelihood went up in flames would you stick around? "Do you want to ask Professor Oak if he knows where Gary is?"

"Not right now."

By Monday she still hadn't made any progress, making up increasingly stupid excuses not to call. If Brock didn't know any better, he'd say she was scared. Thankfully, the other half of this most obscure couple finally grew a pair, calling the Gym himself.

Brock hid himself behind the corner, wanting to hear how the conversation, the first between them in over a week, was going to play out.

She sat in front of the ringing phone for what felt like an eternity, staring at the caller ID which told her the call was coming from the Pallet Town Lab. Taking a few deep breaths she lifted the phone and turned on the screen, letting out a silent gasp as Gary came into view.

"Hello Gary." She said warily.

"_Red,"_

Brock watched as best he could from his position as Misty squirmed. "I heard about what happened. I guess you're OK then?" she sounded as though she were talking to a stranger.

_"Yeah, I'm fine but I can't say the same for you. What's going on Red? You don't write, you don't call –" _Brock could hear the confusion and hurt in his tone.

"Oh, um…I've been really busy with the Gym and all –"

_"Don't give me that crap. Not two weeks ago you told me you'd always make time for me, and I'd always make time for you. What's really happening over there?"_

"Look, Gary. Now isn't a good time…"

_"Then when is a good time Red? Look, I won't pretend that we're more than we are, but we are friends and –"_

"We aren't friends, Gary." Of all the things she could have said, Brock did not expect that.

_"…what? What are you talking about? Of course we're friends!"_

"I don't think we should be friends anymore. It doesn't work." She sounded almost robotic by this point.

_"Where the fuck is this coming from? Is it something I've done?"_

"No, it's nothing like that; I just don't believe we're better off as friends anymore."

_"You can't seriously believe that! You can't tell me that the past couple of months as friends haven't done you as much good as it has for me."_

"Gary, I can't talk right now –"

_"Like hell you can't, it's 10pm! I'm not hanging up until you give me a decent answer!"_ Brock could almost feel the desperation is Gary's tone.

"Then I'll do it for you. Bye Gary. Don't call again." And with that, she hung up.

As she replaced the phone on the hook, Brock heard her let out a few shaky breaths before finally bursting into tears. He let out a sigh and rounded the corner, gathering Misty in his arms as she sobbed her heart out.

"Why did you do that Misty?"

"I can't let him in again. It's easier this way." She managed between choked sobs.

"What do you mean by that? He's obviously heartbroken Misty!"

"I do love him, which is exactly why I'm not willing to risk it. I can't risk him hurting me Brock!"

Brock fell silent; there was nothing else to say. All he could do was hold the crying girl in his arms and hope she might see the light, and that she'd see it soon.

**-XXX-**

Normally, Brock didn't lower himself to violence, but he figured if Tracey was going to resort to such low measures to keep Gary and Misty apart, he could afford to make some concessions too. He put the closed sign out front of the Gym. Misty had plans and even if she hadn't, she probably wasn't in any mood to battle after the phone call last night.

The inner romantic in Brock all but sang when he saw Gary's distinctive car (_Seriously, he still drives that thing?_) pull up at the Cerulean Gym that morning. He was willing to fight, why wasn't she?

He nodded in acknowledgement towards Gary who nodded back, understandably looking to be on the brink of an angry breakdown of some sort. Brock, even if there wasn't a task he needed to do, did not want to be anywhere within earshot of the Gym when those two went off. He climbed into his own car, turned on the ignition and pulled away from the Gym, starting the long, winding journey back to Pallet Town.

It was a beautiful clear day, and the streets were quiet, letting Brock get through to Pallet Town in good time. He smiled, remembering the moments where he and Ash and whoever they were travelling with at the time passed through this sleepy town to visit Ash's family. Truth be told, these visits always held more significance when done with Misty. May, Max and Dawn were sweet kids, but it was hard to beat the first few years of their journey when it was just him, Ash and Misty finding their own way. It was so hard to believe they had started on that journey together almost thirteen years ago.

Grinning, Brock pulled up his car at the familiar Oak Laboratory. As he was every time he looked at it, he was struck once more by the sheer grandeur of the lab, adjoining mansion and sprawling grounds for the Pokemon that were kept here. Brock felt humbled by the fact that he had been afforded the opportunity to visit so many regional Pokemon Professors' labs, but there was no question that the Oak lab was the most impressive.

Walking up to the large front door, Brock took a moment to steel himself; he was here for Misty and Gary's sakes after all, not to reminisce! He took a deep breath, not realising why he felt nervous, and knocked on the door firmly.

He jumped when an unfamiliar figure opened the door, a teenager with messy sandy blonde hair. Brock furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and double checked the house numbers on the wall to his right. Yes, this was definitely the right house…

"Are you here for the Professor, sir?" the young man asked politely.

Brock was caught off a little, "I'm actually here to see Tracey if that's OK."

The teen shook his head respectfully, "I'm afraid Mr. Sketchit is out at the moment. Would you like to wait for him?"

"If that's OK, I'd like to see the Professor and Delia too if I may."

"I'm sure it can be arranged. What did you say your name was?"

Brock chuckled, "I didn't, but it's Brock Slate."

"Oh, you're the Pewter City Gym leader then?"

"Yes, that's me. My brother's running it right now though. Forgive me, but I've never seen you before – "

"Oh, I'm new," the teen replied a little quickly, "I came back with Gary Oak last week."

"Oh! We're you a part of that lab explosion on the news?"

"NO!" he answered a little too loudly, "I mean…yes, I was there, but I wasn't a part of it and – "

"Hey, it's OK," Brock tried to backtrack after seeing the boy's face blanch, "I wasn't accusing you of anything, I just think it's weird you weren't interviewed when everyone else was."

"I wasn't interviewed…I took the Pokemon to a safe place. I wasn't there!"

"Whoa! You were the hero of the piece, were you?"

The teen mumbled something incoherently and stepped aside to allow Brock to come through. He had to stop himself from gasping when his eyes took in the décor of the mansion; a decidedly feminine colour scheme carried on throughout, not at all like the mansion he visited all those years ago which was rather minimalist in its few embellishments.

"If you'd like to sit down I'd be happy to fetch the Professor and Delia for you."

Brock spun around quickly having forgotten that he wasn't alone. "Thanks, I'll wait. Sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

He sensed some hesitation on the teenagers' part. "Oh, it's Kevin. I'll go get them for you." Without looking back, Kevin disappeared up the hall and around the corner and out of sight.

Brock stood in the living room, waiting. His eyes darted over all the pictures on the walls, a co-mingling of both Ketchum and Oak memories. He was surprised to note that he was in some of the pictures. He smiled at the picture of Ash, Misty and himself, noting that for the life of him, he couldn't remember how that picture was taken. It was at least ten years old and if Brock had to guess, it would have been taken around the time Ash, Misty and Tracey had returned to Pallet Town from the Orange Islands.

"Brock! What are you doing here?"

He spun around; coming face to face with Delia Oak (he doubted he'd ever get used to calling her that!) "Morning Delia," he greeted pleasantly. "I had actually hoped to see Tracey, but your assistant says he's out right now."

"Assistant?" Delia appeared puzzled before realising who Brock was speaking about, "Oh! You mean Kevin! A sweet young man, isn't he? He works in the lab with Samuel."

"So, he's not a …receptionist or something?"

Delia laughed lightly, "He's a little bit tense isn't he? He tends to act more like a personal assistant to either of us rather than a lab assistant. I think he feels like he owes us."

"The way he answered the door and led me through the house, and the way he spoke I guess I just assumed. He said he came back with Gary?"

Brock couldn't help but notice the odd look that crossed over Delia's face as he said that. "Yes. According to Gary, Kevin was a big help to him in getting all the lab Pokemon out safely."

"There's something more isn't there? He seemed a little too jumpy when I asked him questions about that day."

She sighed, "Yes, there is something else but I can't say. It's not that I wouldn't trust you with the information Brock, it's that I promised I wouldn't."

"It's fine Delia. I wouldn't ask you to break that promise anyway. Do you have any idea when Tracey's going to be back?"

This had Delia confused. As far as she knew, Brock and Tracey barely knew each other, and didn't really go beyond being the most casual of acquaintances. "He left about an hour ago to take the new starters to the Pokemon Center in Viridian City. It's not a long drive so he shouldn't be too much longer. If you don't mind my asking, why do you want to see him?"

"I'd just like to talk to him about something."

That did not help Delia's confusion, "But you aren't friends. You aren't really…well you aren't anything! May I ask what you need to talk to him about?"

"Misty." Brock replied simply.

Delia groaned. She really should have known after seeing the way Tracey began to withdraw after Misty took up with Gary. "What did he do to her? Did he finally tell her?"

Brock looked surprised, "You knew about that?"

Delia laughed again, "That boy has mooned over Misty ever since the Orange Islands days. Whenever she came here, whether with you and Ash or on her own, Tracey's eyes always lit up and you couldn't stop him from talking he was so nervous! You should have seen how he was when he gave her that Azurill!"

Brock smiled wryly, "If he's been holding a candle for Misty for that long, his jealousy is kind of understandable."

Delia gasped upon realising what Brock meant. "He's jealous of Gary?"

"Incredibly so. He said some very…harsh things to Misty when we saw him last week and he might have wrecked any chance she and Gary might have."

Delia had to stop herself from squealing in delight, "You mean Misty and Gary – "

"Not if I can't do something about it! Misty truly believed the things Tracey said to her, and you've seen what she's like when she sets her mind to something! I saw Gary pull up at the Gym before I came here but she's just been so set in her decision to never speak to Gary again that I don't think he's going to get very far with her."

Delia nodded in understanding, "So that's why she never called Gary after the accident. He was so worried when he didn't hear from her that entire week."

Brock smiled, "I know, he even called me to find out what was going on. But I really need to talk to Tracey about all this before he wrecks it for good."

Delia smiled at that, "Misty is so lucky to have a friend like you Brock."

"She's like a sister to me. I hate seeing her upset over anything, plus after everything I just want her to be happy, and I truly believe Gary could help her with that. I think both of them can help each other be happy."

Both smiled at the truth of that statement. A calm silence washed over them both, only to be interrupted by the opening and closing of the front door.

Brock smirked lazily, obviously relishing in the task at hand. "It was lovely seeing you again Delia, but there's something I have to do now."

She answered back with a smirk of her own, "Take care Brock. Oh, and watch the jaw!"

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion before shrugging and leaving the living room, walking down the hall and seizing Tracey by the back of his shirt, pulling him back through the door to the front yard. "Brock! What are you –"

Once outside Brock shoved Tracey roughly to the ground. In the full sunlight he noticed Tracey's jawline was heavily bruised. He smirked to himself realising Gary must have got a few hits in. "Stay the hell away from Misty!"

Tracey hauled himself back up, brushing dirt and grass off his jeans. He flashed an odd smirk at Brock before replying, "What business is it of yours how close I get to Misty?"

"I'm made it my business when you blatantly tried to wreck any chance of happiness she might have because she wasn't with you!"

"What, and you think Gary's the better choice? At least I wouldn't be using her for my own devices! She'd be happy with me – "

"BUT SHE'S NOT WITH YOU! She never will be with you! You have nearly ten years to make a move but you didn't say a fucking word Sketchit! Your ship has sailed now man up and move on, and let Misty be happy!"

"But she won't be happy! He'll break her heart and everyone seems fine with letting that happen!"

"You know she's in love with him, right?"

"WHAT? How could she after – "

"She's not talking to him in case you were wondering. With what you said you probably fucked it all up for them. I've seen them interact and I know you must have too. You know there is something real between them and you still decided to piss all over it. She's devastated she thinks she can't trust the one person she believed she could. Are you proud of yourself, you jealous bastard? Does it make you feel good to break the heart of the girl you supposedly love?"

"Yes. Now it doesn't matter what she chooses, so long as it's nowhere near him."

That was it for Brock. Tracey Sketchit was a deluded sociopath, the climax of their argument an admission that he would rather see Misty heartbroken and depressed as opposed to happy in a relationship with Gary Oak. Brock couldn't believe someone as smart as Misty would ever allow such a wanker in her close circle of friends. As silence fell between them, Tracey let out a dark chuckle. "See you later Brock." and turned to walk back inside.

A hand whipped out and caught Tracey's shoulder. Before he had a chance to react Brock bought his hand back and landed another punch on Tracey's already bruised jaw, wincing as he heard something crack. At least if it were broken, Tracey wouldn't be talking much anymore.

"That's because you are undoubtedly the biggest fucker to ever grace the planet, and because Gary didn't hit you hard enough the first time. If you ever some near Misty again I'll do far more than break your jaw."

Brock turned and walked back across the yard to his car. Not even sparing a second glance at Tracey who was, as far as he was concerned, lower than scum, he sat back down in his car and took a few deep breaths to relax himself. Never had Brock reacted so violently, usually he liked to talk his way out of things like that, but Tracey…he couldn't even think straight for how infuriating he was. Buckling his seatbelt Brock started the car and made the journey back to Cerulean City, hoping to Arceus Gary was having better luck talking to Misty.

**-XXX-**

Gary was as good as seething as he pulled up his car at the Cerulean City Gym. Not a particularly familiar feeling for the usually cool and level headed Oak.

If he couldn't get through to Misty he wasn't sure what he might do. Probably go back home and break Tracey's face. Obviously he wasn't going to force anything with Misty since her anger was actually understandable, but he sure as hell was going to fight for it.

Matters weren't helped when he spied Brock leaving the Gym as he arrived; he thought he had long taken care of that problem. He gave the barest inclination of his head at Brock's nod, thinking that if he moved any more than he needed to he might just explode.

He knocked on the Gym door and waited. He noticed that the closed sign was on the front door but he didn't care if he was interrupting any of Misty's plans today. He wanted – no, _needed_ to fix this and it needed to be now. Gary knew he'd never be able to forgive himself if he didn't at least try.

Misty opened the door with a huge smile on her face which immediately fell when she saw who it was on the other side.

Gary, for his part, had to fight his jaw from dropping and focus on why he was there in the first place. She looked absolutely beautiful. Her hair was down, falling in loose fiery waves down her back. Her face was almost completely devoid of makeup, not that she'd ever need it, save for a strawberry tinted lip gloss which Gary had to fight himself from wanting to taste to see if it tasted like berries also. The biggest shock however would have to be the fact that she was actually wearing a dress! An emerald green dress which fell to mid-thigh with a bow tied up at the back.

Fighting to keep his sanity in front of the woman who he only recently realised he was in love with; he set his face in a determined expression and fixed it upon her. "We need to talk." It wasn't a question, nor was it a statement. It was a demand.

"Gary, now isn't a good time, nor will it ever be. Please leave." Misty's voice was laced with so much venom it actually hurt to hear, but Gary wouldn't be the man he was if he backed down so easily.

He pushed his way past and through the door and walked through to the living area. "Red, I couldn't care less if I was interrupting your little date or whatever it is you're about to do. This can't wait anymore. We need to talk."

Misty slammed the door shut and followed him, ready to kick him out if needed. "And what if I don't want to talk Gary?" she asked icily.

"Then you will at the very least sit and listen." He sat down on the couch and waited for her to sit beside him. When she made no move to sit Gary sighed, ran a hand though his messy hair and continued. "Look, I know what Tracey told you – "

"I think I had a right to know."

"I never wanted you to think what you think about me and you now."

Misty laughed hollowly, "So you admit what he said was true?"

Gary's eyebrows furrowed in frustration, "No, that's not what I'm saying at all – "

"Then what the fuck are you trying to pull Gary? You think I'll let you just waltz on in here and play me again?"

Gary stood from the seat and tried to move towards her, stopping hesitantly when she jerked backwards. "What? No, of course not but can you please just let me explain? You need to know that Tracey was saying those things to get a rise out of you! He has a crush on you and doesn't want us to be anything at all."

"I know that! I'd have to be blind as well as stupid not to know that but his motivations make no difference in the end here Gary. It doesn't matter anymore."

"What, so you believe what he said, no questions asked? Arceus, maybe you are stupid!"

Misty scoffed loudly. "Excuse me? I'm stupid? No, what would be stupid would be if I let you in again only for you to screw me over like you did to my sisters. You are a sick man, Gary Oak."

"And you are stubborn and beyond reason! You jump to conclusions and you're so willing to throw everything away over a misunderstanding!"

"It's not a misunderstanding though, isn't it? Why won't you admit to me that sleeping with me was you goal? That you thought that if you were nice and buttered me up I'd give myself over to you in a heartbeat?"

Gary held his head and groaned, "Please let me explain without making so many stupid assumptions. Please?"

Misty laughed again, once more without humour, and finally sat down, leaving Gary pacing in front of her. "Dazzle me, Oak."

He took a deep breath and started from the top. There would be no turning back now. "I will admit, not proudly though, that maybe at the very beginning I was…tempted to try for the set. Tempted probably isn't the right word, more like I was determined. I saw one of Delia's pictures of you in the living room back home and I was absolutely stunned at the gorgeous woman you became. At the time I was depressed, sleeping with so many different women to try and fill the void in my life that I didn't recognise as anything beyond loneliness and a desperate desire for attention that I've had since my parents died. I was ready to change, but for whatever reason I felt like I needed to have the set in order to move on. Don't ask me why because I don't entirely know the answer myself, maybe it was meant to be a trophy of accomplishment or something.

"When I came to the Gym in the first place to fix the pumps for you, I was going to try and…make a move on you then. You were beautiful, you didn't look at me as though I was the second coming, and you ignored the hell out of me! Even if you hadn't been who you are, I would still have been interested. It stopped being about the set that night – "

"Because I told you I knew about Lily? You thought I thought it was about the set then?"

"Honestly yes. Had you not called that night drunk I probably wouldn't have come back. I'm so glad that I did though. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed taking care of you even if you were refusing it. And I was even more surprised at how easy it was to talk to you in the park afterwards. I loved every minute I spent with you Misty, every breakfast, ever phone call, every random meeting, all of it. You gave me something I didn't even know I needed but that I can't live without anymore. At first I thought it was just the fact that we were friends by that point that I felt this way but when I left it felt as though I left something here; I didn't feel whole when I went back to Sinnoh. I actually spoke to Delia about how I felt. You cannot imagine how happy I was to hear your voice when I finally got to the message you left on my phone the night I got back. When I called you the next morning and saw your face, I'm pretty sure that was when I first started to realise I was falling for you in a way that I'd never fallen for anyone."

He looked up to see that upon that revelation, Misty's jaw had dropped. "Why the hell didn't you say anything?"

"I made the promise remember? I'm a man of my word if nothing else. Anyway, when you didn't call for that week after you and Rock boy saw Tracey in that bar, I felt lost and incredibly desperate not knowing what I'd done, two emotions that I might add I have never experienced before. I even called Brock to find out what was going on. I assumed the worst there for a while before I got VERY desperate and checked the daily Cerulean battle stats on the league website to find out that you were still there. Then I just thought you were busy. More time passed, and then there was the incident with the Rockets in my lab. I had guns pointed at my head, and I was in a building rigged to explode. The only thing I could think about was you. About why you were ignoring me, then about whether or not I'd even be able to see you again.

"After everything, I had so many calls from the press and from Gramps and Delia. Delia actually asked me if I'd heard from you since she thought you'd be the first to contact me since we'd become so much closer before I left. When I said I hadn't heard from you all week and asked if they knew how you were, they mentioned your run in with Tracey. I knew what had happened since he'd actually confronted me about the whole thing before I left and I actually hit him. When I called last night and you said all those things about not wanting to see me ever again, it might sound crazy but that was when I was certain I was in love with you, and that there was no way I was going to let you go without at least trying to explain everything to you, which brings me back to right now. That is the story. I don't know if you're going to believe it, but I thought you should know."

His eyes dropped to the floor, staring at the cream shag pile rug on the floor. Misty, for lack of a better word, was absolutely flabbergasted. They sat in the stretched silence for what felt like hours. She caught eye of the clock in the corner which told her the time was now well past 1pm. _I was meant to meet Marina over an hour ago!_ Misty turned to face Gary's hunched form. "Gary, look at me." Slowly he bought his eyes up to meet hers. She stood and took a deep breath. "I think I deserve to be angry with you right now, and I think I deserve some space to…digest what you just said. Could you please leave now?" she asked quietly.

Gary eyed her strangely for a few moments before standing up after her. He took a few paces so he stood right in front of her. "I'll go, for now anyway. But since you need to be convinced, there's something I'd like to remind you of; you said we were no longer friends and as such, I am no longer bound by that promise I made."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Misty asked, annoyed.

Gary gave a sexy little smirk that left her doubting the location of her hands, "I mean that there is nothing at all stopping me from doing this." Before Misty could question what that meant, Gary closed the distance between them, placing one hand around her neck and the other on the curve of her waist, pulling her body closer to his, claiming her lips in a soft, gentle kiss.

Fireworks. Magic. Every cliché under the sun. That was the only way she could describe the incredible sensation she was feeling of Gary's soft, sweet lips moving gently with her own. It was completely and utterly blissful. No matter how much she wanted to fight and reject the kiss, she couldn't deny that it felt right, so incredibly right. As quickly as it had started, Gary pulled away, his eyes clouded over, effectively ending what Misty believed was probably the most amazing kiss she had ever received, and there hadn't even been any tongue involved. It was sweet, chaste, and loving with so much emotion poured into it, everything a first kiss between two people should be. Before Misty even had a chance to blush and get angry about it (_who would kiss anyone after an argument like that anyway?_), there was a knock at the Gym door.

Both jumped. The moment ruined for them both. Misty, now confused as hell and only now realising their close proximity moved away from Gary, not daring to look at his face, and walked towards the door. He followed a few paces behind, not wanting to interrupt.

Misty opened the door to reveal a solemn looking Officer Jenny, holding a very familiar journal.

Misty cleared her throat, still getting over that mind-reeling kiss. "Good afternoon Officer," she greeted politely, "how can I help you today?"

"Misty," she started, "Are you friends with a Marina Hyland?"

"Yes," she answered slowly, "why?"

The officer flicked through the journal, stopping on a page and reading the contents, "Are you the one who met her today at midday at the Cerulean City Mall?"

Misty blushed. "I was supposed to meet her. I never ended up going, an…acquaintance came by and I lost track of time."

Officer Jenny scribbled something down in her own notebook. "Can this acquaintance verify this?"

"Yes, he's still here," Misty replied cautiously, gesturing to Gary standing a few feet behind her who nodded, looking as confused as she did. "I'm sorry, has something happened? Is Marina in trouble?"

The officer took a deep breath. It didn't matter how often she did this part, it never got any easier. "I'm sorry to inform you that Marina was killed in a hit-and-run accident arriving at the mall a little over an hour ago. She died at the scene. Police are tracking the driver."

Misty paled, her knees buckled, hot tears prickled her eyes. Gary immediately came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, supporting her limp figure. "Um, thank you Officer. Thanks for…?" he trailed off, his own shock hitting him at that moment.

"I understand. I'm very sorry for your loss. Does Marina have any family we need to notify?"

Misty couldn't speak, grief shocking her to her very core. She shook her head weakly.

"OK. Thank you for your co-operation, and again, I'm very sorry." The Officer turned and walked slowly back to her car, disappearing down the street.

Gary shut the door, still holding Misty upright. He was about to help her back to the couch when she turned in his hold and began punching him everywhere she could reach. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Confused, he tried in vain to grab her wrists, attempting to stop her assault. "Misty, please, what's my fault?"

"YOU WERE HERE!" She screamed though her tears, still beating him across his chest, "YOU WERE HERE AND I WAS MEANT TO BE THERE! I COULD HAVE STOPPED IT BUT YOU WERE HERE! IT'S YOUR FAULT MY BEST FRIEND IS DEAD."

Gary felt his own tears build up but didn't say a word. He wrapped his arms around Misty and held her tight as her punches slowed down and she melted into his grasp. She sobbed against his chest, clinging onto him as though her life depended on it, all the while crying, "It's all your fault."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN:** I am perfectly aware that not everyone will like this but trust me when I say that there is method to my madness! Everything happens for a reason, OK? Even in the world of Pokemon fan fiction!

The chapter title was taken from the Green Day song of the same name; I thought it was rather fitting to Gary's confession!

Leave a review or I'll come take your first born! But seriously, only one review for the last chapter? As much as I write the story for my own enjoyment, I continue it because I know you guys read it. PLEASE leave reviews otherwise I just won't be motivated to continue, and you don't want me to leave you hanging right here do you? Thanks to all my usual reviews though, you guys rock and you know who you are :)


	14. Chapter 13: When You're Ready to Hear It

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Welcome to…well, I hope it's a good read but I'm not egotistical enough to call it the greatest fanfic on earth! Not quite as long as the last chapter, but still solid! Surprisingly, none of you were as cut up about Marina dying as I thought you'd be! Anyway, without any further ado, let's get this show on the road!

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Pokemon! Come on, we're up to 14 of these disclaimers now and still I have to keep repeating it? I'm not even sure who I'm meant to be convincing anymore…

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 13: 'When You're Ready To Hear It'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Finally Misty had fallen asleep.

Gary had simply held her tightly for a little over two hours in which time he didn't say a word. She passed out soon after, the exhaustion of crying as hard as she had been over the past week catching up with her, the events of the day tipping her dangerously over the edge; she was severely emotionally drained.

He carried her back to her room, noting that she weighed next to nothing, making no unnecessary movement that might wake Misty up. Placing her on her bed, he leaned down and gently brushed the hair from her eyes, which even in sleep were rimmed red and puffy, dried tracks from her tears marking the soft skin of her cheeks. His fingers gently traced the contours of her face before pulling back and tucking her in. Leaning down once more he placed a soft kiss on her forehead before turning back and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

Gary made his way slowly down the stairs, careful not to make any noise. He flung himself down unceremoniously on the sofa, held his head in his hands and let out a deep breath; he felt absolutely overloaded with everything. The tense atmosphere of the Cerulean Gym reminded him of how it had been at the Oak Mansion after the deaths of his parents. He had no idea how much time had passed until he heard the opening and closing of the front door, and felt the seat of the sofa sink next to him. Gary turned his head slightly, noticing that Brock was now sitting next to him, drumming his fingers against his knee, looking for all the world to be incredibly proud of himself though Gary had no idea why.

The silence that stretched between the two became unbearable. "What's got you so happy?" Gary had to ask before the silence and the curiosity drove him insane.

"Oh, I just took care of something that had been bothering me for a while, and I think it might have been bothering you as well." He answered cryptically with a smirk on his face.

"O…K then…" The uncomfortable silence returned.

"So…how did you go?" Brock asked.

"With what?" Gary croaked out.

Brock laughed, "With Misty, of course! Did you manage to convince her? She has been beyond mopey this week. I hope you were able to knock some sense into her."

Gary gulped, realising that Brock had no way of knowing about Marina. He looked at the clock on the wall instead, not wanting to give himself away.

Brock took no notice of Gary's discomfort. "Well? Did you talk to her or not? I know she was planning to go out when I left, you did manage to catch her, right?"

"Yeah, I caught her. I've been here for nearly four hours now." He answered hoarsely.

Only now did Brock notice Gary's pale complexion and red eyes, tiredness etching its way into his handsome features. "What the hell happened to you? She didn't give you that 'I never want to see you again' speech, did she?"

Gary made an odd noise, somewhere between a grunt, chuckle and a sigh. "She certainly tried."

"Well? Don't keep me in suspense! What happened?"

"I told her everything, and then I kissed her." He turned to look at Brock whose eyes looked to be bugging out of his head in disbelief.

"Are you serious? You actually kissed her?"

"I did. And then a cop came over and told Misty her best friend had died in an accident. And then she blamed me for it."

Gary took the stunned silence for shock. It was a few tense moments before Brock spoke again. "I…um…oh wow…Where's Misty now? Is she…OK?"

"She fell asleep a while ago." Gary leaned forward and let out a heavy sigh. "It was so hard seeing her like that."

"Gary! Is she OK?"

"Probably not Rock boy and she won't be for a while yet." He shot back as sharply as he could manage. "Misty told me once that Marina was the only friend she spoke to regularly. Her sisters left her, then she and Ash broke up, Marina was the only constant and even then she only saw her once or twice a month, now she's dead. How do you think you'd feel if that was taken away from you?"

"I get your point." Brock let out a few shaky breaths. He hadn't known Marina personally but knowing Misty was taking it so hard worried him greatly. "Why did she say it was your fault?"

Gary hesitated before answering, "She said it was because I was here, talking to her, when she was supposed to be there. She thinks she would have been able to stop it."

"How did it happen?" Brock asked, needing more information to stop the questions from swirling in his head.

"Apparently it was a hit-and-run. The cops are still after the guy they said."

"You know she didn't mean what she said. She's been so overwhelmed lately, then this happens, and you were unlucky enough to be the one standing in front of her when she was pushed over the edge."

"I know. But still…"

Brock looked Gary up and down, taking in his drained appearance and hunched body. "How are you taking it? You look pretty shook up."

"She…" he began, running a hand through his perpetually messy hair, "she reminded me so much of my sister when our parents died. It was hard to see again, I guess."

"Gary, maybe you should go home."

"What? No way! I have to stay and look after her and – "

"I don't doubt you could, in fact I wish it weren't this way! But put yourself in her position for a moment; she's been cut up all week over you and what Tracey told her. You come here today making, I don't know, some big, grand declaration of love and follow it up with a kiss. Someone comes and tells her that her best friend is dead and in her grief she blamed you. Give her some space; you've done what you can."

"But - " Gary threw himself back on the sofa. He loathed to admit it, but Brock had a point. "I don't want to leave her alone."

Brock couldn't help the small smile he had at that statement. He knew he'd never have to question Gary's feelings for his friend, "I'll be with her. You don't have to worry about her being alone."

Gary bit back a look of annoyance, knowing it would get him absolutely nowhere. "I'll write her a note before I leave." He stood up to find a notebook and a pen.

"What are you going to say?" Brock asked, his eyes following Gary around the room.

"Just some things she's going to need to hear." He replied, finding the notebook and a pen, leaning over the kitchen counter to compose the letter.

Brock looked confused. "You aren't going to bring up the kiss or your little speech in it, are you?"

"You don't think I should?"

"No. She's beating herself up enough without having to worry about the guy she has feelings for." he replied nonchalantly.

Gary stopped in his tracks, dropping the pen onto the floor with a soft clinking sound. "She has feelings for me?"

"Yes, which is why you shouldn't overload her any more than you need to. I'm telling you this for your own benefit as well as hers. She loves you, and you love her but please, for the love of Arceus, don't do anything now. Please wait until she's doing better."

Gary bent down to pick up the pen from the floor. He held it over the paper before him, debating internally over what he should say. Ultimately, he decided to keep it simple and to the point, not once apologising for anything, giving her gentle encouragement he knew she would need. He tore the paper from the notebook and folded it gently. Turning back to the seat he handed it to Brock. "Give her this when she wakes up."

"She'll get it, don't worry." Brock turned the folded piece of paper over in his hands, inspecting it as though it were the most interesting thing in the world. "You know, I'm glad it's you."

"What are you talking about?" Gary asked with a raised eyebrow.

Brock pocketed the note and stood up to face Gary properly. "When I first saw that magazine article and the picture of you two, I was worried and honestly I was still thinking of you as that same dipshit who gave Ash so much trouble as a kid. You're a good man Oak, and I can see that you make her happy, and that's all I'll ever want for her."

Gary smirked, "Did I just get the big brothers' approval?"

Brock shrugged, "Maybe," he replied slyly, "But I don't think I need to remind you that I will kill you if you screw up and hurt her, and I won't be the only one who'll want a turn."

"I'd never hurt her, on purpose or otherwise." He looked down and smiled, "But thanks."

"No problem. You should go now; I'll look out for her."

"Thanks," Gary repeated. He looked around the living area once more before turning and walking out the door. He breathed a heavy sigh as he stood outside the door. He walked slowly towards his car, leaning on the door as he gazed at Misty's window, thinking about how the girl on the other side was going to feel when she woke up. _Like she was the one who got hit by a car. _Fighting the voice in his head that told him to stay, Gary quickly got into his car and just drove, unable to get the image of Misty crying out of his head.

As he watched Gary's car speed off in a cloud of dust, Brock pulled a mobile phone from his pocket and dialed a familiar number. After a few rings, the call was answered. 'Hey! Got a minute to talk? It's about Misty…"

**-XXX-**

When Misty woke up, it was pitch black outside.

Before another wave of grief could envelope her, confusion reigned. She looked at her surroundings, noticing that she was in her bedroom. Her last memory before falling asleep had her in the living room; how the hell did she get up here?

Feeling her face grow warm, memories flooded back. Gary and that…incredibly loaded speech, the kiss which even now made her lips tingle, Officer Jenny, blaming Gary for what happened, Gary holding her tightly and lovingly regardless of what she had said as she cried, her clutching him back as though he would disappear forever if she let go.

Sitting up in bed, Misty hugged her knees close to her as the tears started again. She couldn't blame Gary for what happened; he had simply been a convenient target. Instead, Misty blamed herself for allowing herself to become distracted in the first place. She knew in her heart that if she had been there she would have been able to prevent the death of her best friend. The thought made her cry harder than she ever thought imaginable.

Before long there was a knock at the door. She could tell by the knock that it wasn't Gary on the other side. _Great, I'm in so frickin' deep with him I can distinguish his door knocking._ "Come in?" she called in a strained voice choked by tears. She sounded beyond exhausted.

Brock opened the door inch by inch. The light from behind him filtered into the room, giving him a perfect view of an obviously distraught Misty. He stepped over the threshold with a tray of food which even Misty in her current state had to concede smelt delicious. "How are you holding up?" he asked, concerned.

"How do you think?" she muttered bitterly, sniffing shamelessly.

To his credit, Brock wasn't about to allow himself to be bullied out. "I brought you some food." He walked towards her, sitting down on the edge of the bed, placing the tray to his side.

"I'm not hungry." she hiccupped.

"Yes you are."

Misty glared at her old friend with tired, red eyes. "Where's Gary?"

"He went home."

Even through tears and her incredible sadness she couldn't stop the look of sheer disappointment from crossing her face as Brock said that. "Why?" she asked. _Arceus that sounded pathetic._

"Because I told him to, now eat."

"Why would you do that? Did it ever occur to you I might have wanted him here?"

"Misty, as pleased as I am you finally admitted it, he is the last person that should be here right now, and you have enough to think about without having to worry about Gary being here. I know you must be devastated about Marina…" he moved closer and placed an arm around her shoulders as she began sobbing again at the reminder, "but you need your space and, what you said to him after…Arceus it made so much more sense when I explained it to him. Sorry, I'm not very good at this." He added, looking at the floor.

"It's OK Brock, I understand." she relented, wiping her nose with the back of her hand causing Brock to scrunch up his own nose.

"Is there anything at all I can do for you?"

_Why do people ask that? _"Unless you think you might be able to bring her back, no. There's nothing you can do."

He moved closer again to hug her. Misty returned the hug but something about it felt off somehow. "I really am sorry Misty. I know how much you loved her."

"You have nothing to be sorry for Brock." she replied softly, "but thanks anyway."

"He did leave you a note."

"What?"

"Gary. Before he left he wrote you a note."

"Do you have it?"

Brock delved a hand into his pocket, producing a piece of paper folded into a neat square. He passed it over, noticing how pale Misty's skin was as she moved to take it from him. Suddenly, Brock pulled the note away. "Misty, _really _this time, and remember you can't lie to me, how are you?"

She hesitated for a moment. He could see on her face the many emotions coursing through her veins, grief the most prominent. "I'm tired of crying." She conceded eventually. "I've been crying all week, and then I…" her voice cracked, "…I get told my best friend is gone, and then I cry some more and I really don't want to cry anymore Brock but I have to." She continued to sob, hating herself for looking so vulnerable in front of Brock, yet subconsciously acknowledging that she didn't entirely mind that Gary had seen her like that.

"Misty, this isn't good for you. You've barely eaten all week, you're exhausted. I don't even want to think about what might happen to you if you keep going like this."

"So what do you think I should do?" she asked; her voice tight with emotion.

"Well, you should definitely close the Gym for one. You could talk to the League board, file for a leave of absence. You really need some time off."

"Can you help me with that tomorrow?"

"Of course." He hesitated before asking a question that he had no idea how she would react to. "Do you want me to call your sisters?"

Misty froze in place, completely and utterly blindsided by the question. "Why would I want to do that?"

"I don't know, maybe having another girl around might help." As Brock looked back over at Misty it became abundantly clear he had said the wrong thing. More tears welled up in her eyes and she hung her head low. Brock realised that Marina was the only female friend Misty had ever had. Sure, made friends when they were on their journey with Ash, but more often than not they always had to leave the next day. Brock then understood that Misty wasn't mourning the loss of just any old friend.

"I don't want to call my sisters." she replied resolutely.

"Does…does Marina have any family you should contact?"

"No. She was an only child, her parents…I don't know the whole story but they weren't really involved in her life. She always said she had no parents. They're probably out there, though. She was from Vermillion City originally so they might still live there."

"Do you want me to look them up?"

"I think they should know. Maybe you could tell Officer Jenny?"

"You don't want me to do it?"

"It's too much for one guy and a phonebook to do Brock. It'd be far easier for the police to do it."

"OK, I'll talk to them tomorrow. Now you really have to eat something." Brock picked up the tray of food beside him and placed it on Misty's lap.

She stared down at the food. It smelled delicious, but she couldn't bring herself to take a bite. "I don't think I'll be able to keep this down Brock. It already feels like I'm about to vomit."

Sensing that getting Misty to eat may be an uphill struggle, he decided to compromise. "Two bites and I'll give you the note."

Misty glared at him despite herself. She picked up the fork and grudgingly scooped up some of the stew in front of her and placed it in her mouth. She chewed for nearly a minute before swallowing, her face scrunched as though she had just eaten something incredibly sour. Brock nodded, encouraging her to take another mouthful. Misty repeated the process, spluttering at the end. Sighing in defeat, Brock tossed her the note and picked up the tray and walked back out the door and down the stairs. Misty waited until she could no longer hear his footsteps before she moved again.

Taking a gulp of water from the glass on her nightstand, Misty fiddled with the paper in her hands. After everything that had happened earlier, she was nervous to read what he had to say. After all, that afternoon he told her he loved her, kissed her, and held her as she cried after she screamed at him that it was all his fault. There were so many things he could say, that he deserved to say and that she deserved to hear. Taking a deep breath, she unfolded the note and read the contents.

_Red,_

_When you're ready to talk and you're ready to listen, I'll be there._

_It wasn't your fault._

_Stay strong,_

_Gary_

She reread the note, over and over again. There wasn't much written but it spoke volumes, like there were a million other things he would have rather said. Her eyes glossed over the note, the words eventually blurring before her. She threw herself back down onto the bed, the pillow catching her as she fell. Willing herself not to cry, she fell asleep again within minutes. It had been a long, long day.

**-XXX-**

Gary drove aimlessly after leaving Cerulean City with no particular destination in mind. After driving for over an hour he was acutely aware he wasn't heading anywhere remotely closer to Pallet Town. If anything, he was heading in an entirely opposite direction.

As he approached the city he was assaulted by the bright lights, neon signs and billboards, temporarily blinding him. If Cerulean was notorious as a party city, Celadon was definitely the tacky casino capital of the Kanto region. And yet, this was where his sister and her young family now lived, and seemed perfectly happy while doing so.

Something in him told Gary he needed to see his sister, and it had to be tonight.

He headed out of the city itself and into the residential areas just beyond. He parked his car on the verge, thinking it would be easier to walk to May's address rather than drive the narrow roads, dodging the large family cars that were parked along the streets.

For twenty minutes Gary simply wandered the streets. For a city with such a seedy reputation (one of their game corners once housing a secret Team Rocket base years ago) there were a lot of families living in the area. He weaved in between small children walking pet Growlithe and Lillipup, parents pushing babies and toddlers in prams, kids on bicycles, even a bloody ice cream truck, everything adding up to make the area look like the most wholesome place in the world.

Turning down a particular street, Gary soon stood in front of his sisters' home. It was a modest two-story home, pale blue walls and a red tiled roof, delicate wrought ironwork surrounding a balcony; it was very similar to the home in Saffron City they had lived in when their parents were still alive. May had always believed the Oak Mansion to be superfluous in its grandeur and extravagance, and had yearned for the simpler home of their parents. He hadn't seen her in over two years. He knew she had returned home for their grandfathers' wedding, but they hadn't seen each other in person since Gary had earned his Junior Professor status.

Gary loved his sister dearly. She was one of only two real family members he had left. She, even in her grief over their parents, had helped raise him. She opened her home to him on more than one occasion. When he was smaller, he thought his big sister was the most awesome person ever. So why, only now, did Gary feel nervousness paralyze him as he was about to knock on the door?

A sound directly on the other side of the door made Gary freeze in place. There was movement at the mail slot halfway down the door. Kneeling, Gary looked though the slot, finding another pair of green eyes similar to his own staring back at him.

"Uncle Gary?" the little voice squeaked.

"Is someone out there James?" called an older male voice.

"It's Uncle Gary, Dad!" James exclaimed excitedly.

Gary had to laugh. He had missed his little nephew, four year old James, and one year old Christopher who he had yet to meet.

"Uncle Gary?" asked a female voice quizzically, becoming progressively louder as it came closer.

Suddenly the door was thrown open and there stood May, balancing baby Christopher of her hip. Gary had to grin at this sight of his older sister, looking ridiculously tired, baby food smeared all over her clothes and face, hair a mess, looking like all she wanted was to have a glass or two of nice wine and disappear for a few hours. "Gary," she breathed, "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too, sis." He smirked in reply.

"That's not what – Of course I'm happy to see you, Gary." Gary had to grin at just how flustered she was now. "What are you doing in Celadon? Grandpa said you moved in with him when I called him two days ago so he could explain to me that business with Team Rocket and your lab exploding! Thanks for telling me you were safe, by the way!"

"Sorry, I should have called. And what, I can't pay my big sister and her kids a visit?"

She studied his face as closely as the wriggling baby in her arms would allow. "Something's wrong isn't there? What happened?"

"I never could get past you, could I?" Gary replied, smiling genuinely. At that moment May's husband Ryan chose to make his way to his wife's side, looking surprised, holding little James tightly by the hand so he wouldn't run off.

Gary leaned down to ruffle the young boys' black hair, inherited from his father. "You remember me, don't you James?" he asked playfully.

"'course Uncle Gary! Mama tells lots of stories, and she has lots of pictures." he replied in a happy voice.

"Do you want to come in Gary?"

"Is that alright? I know I came sort of late and – "

"Don't be stupid Gaz," Gary rolled his eyes as his childhood nickname resurfaced, "Of course you can come in! I can't deny my baby brother now can I?" she shot the trademark Oak smirk right back.

"Yet you seemed so determined to deny me so many things as a child! I lost count of the amount of times you stole my Squirtle doll and made me do your chores to get it back!"

"Who cares, you got a real one in the end!" she joked, leading Gary into the house. In such a short amount of time, she and Gary were back in the same rhythm, joking and one-upping as all siblings do, as though no time had passed at all.

"You got a Squirtle Uncle Gary?" asked James in wide-eyed wonder.

"That he did James, and just as Uncle Gary left on his journey it sprayed him with its Water Gun and Skull Bashed him down a dirty hill. He came back an hour later, showered and then tried to leave again!" James fell to the floor laughing while Ryan was trying valiantly to suppress a chuckle.

"Hey!" Gary searched for a retort but came up with nothing. He could never beat May at verbal sparring. "For the record it's an awesome Blastoise now! And nobody was watching when that happened." He finished pathetically.

"I'm sure they weren't" May crooned, patting him on the cheek condescendingly. "You only paid those ladies to show up when Ashy was around, right?"

"Hey!" Gary tried again, "They were…they were handy…to have around…sometimes. And I didn't pay them."

May laughed and placed the baby in a play pen on the floor filled with Pokemon dolls and other toys as her husband and James discreetly made themselves scarce to play video games in another room. She gestured for Gary to sit down next to her on the couch. "What on earth were they doing following you around then?"

"…they cheered for me when I had my Gym battles and…I think they just liked the Oak name. I got into a lot of fancy restaurants and hotels just by dropping the name."

"Ah. And here I assumed it was some ridiculous ploy for you to make Ash Ketchum jealous. You two never did get along. Why was that?"

"He was annoying." Gary replied simply, not wanting to divulge the real issue he had with the other male.

"OK, it's pretty clear you aren't here to discuss Ash – "

"So why'd you bring him up then?"

"Hey, I'm just going with the flow here!" May got up and went into the kitchen, coming back moments later with two cans of cola. She handed one to Gary, who only then realised he hadn't eaten or had anything to drink that day, and gulped it down appreciatively, ignoring the mild burning sensation of the carbonated bubbles on his throat. "Now, why did you come here?" May asked.

"Honestly May, I just really wanted to see you."

"Oh, and why is that? Not that I'm not flattered of course."

"It's been…a long day."

"That…gives me nothing at all. Stop evading Gaz, you know you can't lie your way around me of all people."

Gary sighed, not knowing how she'd react. "I was with a…friend today, and she had an Officer Jenny come around telling her that her best friend was killed in a hit-and-run accident."

May choked on her drink. "Oh my Arceus, that's terrible! Was your friend alright?"

"Not really. After the police left she yelled at me, saying it was all my fault. I held her for two hours as she cried her heart out. She…" he hesitated to tell her the next part. "She looked like you when Dad died. I felt like I had to see you after I left."

An odd silence fell between them that couldn't really be described as uncomfortable. May's reaction was not what Gary had expected from his sister at all; she punched him, hard, on the shoulder. "Ow! May! What the hell was that for?"

"You left that poor girl, grieving and devastated, all alone? What the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled angrily.

"Hey! I wouldn't have left her there if she was all alone. She has someone there looking out for her. After _everything_" May couldn't help but note the heavy emotion behind that word, "that had happened there today I was the last person that should have stayed there."

"What makes you say that?"

"I didn't come to discuss that May. I came because I wanted to see you."

"You're evading again."

"Am not! You asked why I was here and I told you!"

"You came because you're crying friend looked like me when our Dad died, fine. So, what part of it exactly made you want to come here? You remembered how I basically shut down and you don't want it to happen to this girl?"

"That might be part of it." Gary admitted through gritted teeth. "Can we also say I started to miss you when I saw the resemblance?"

"No, because it wouldn't be entirely true, would it? You don't want your friend to go through what I did."

"…well, do you have any advice?"

"Gary," May began, frustrated, "What happened to me was…an extreme reaction. Not everyone who cries after someone dies is going to go borderline catatonic and hole themselves up in a lab like I did."

"I know but…" Gary leaned back and rubbed his tired eyes, "I'm worried. She's normally such a strong person but she's been fragile all week and this just tipped her over. I don't want anything to happen to her. Everyone was so sad when you retreated May. I don't think I could watch it happen again to someone else I care about!"

May gave a small smirk. "Are you in love with this girl?'

Gary raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think that?"

"Well, you seem very concerned about this girls' wellbeing, plus you just said you cared about her. You've never really 'cared' about any woman Gary, so I just assumed. So, are you?"

Gary looked down, slightly flushed. "You know the answer to that May."

May sighed and scooted closer to her younger brother. "I'm sure she'll be fine Gaz. After all, she's got you as a boyfriend, right?" She nudged him with her elbow and winked playfully.

"Oh, I'm not her boyfriend. Not yet anyway." He couldn't help but add the last part with a smirk.

"Not yet? Does she know how you feel?"

"I was actually trying to, well, tell her today. Before she got the news, of course."

"Oh dear."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Are you going to try to tell her again?"

"Eventually. She has enough on her plate right now without me trying to pressure her. I can wait."

"You've come a long way Gaz. I'm proud of you." May beamed at him.

"Why do you say that?"

"Look Gary, I won't pretend I haven't noticed you in magazines or in the newspapers over the past couple of years, and I won't pretend to be proud of your many dubious conquests over the years or the fact that you're more famous for the fact that you're a bit of a man whore rather than your research which actually is rather groundbreaking stuff, but you've matured and you actually care about this girl! As your big sister, and a woman, I couldn't be happier for you!"

"You're not one to sugar coat things, are you?"

"Never." She shook her head, her light brown hair moving with her. "I don't believe lying would get me anywhere." She replied smoothly.

"What about Santa and the Easter Bunny?" Gary challenged.

May sighed. "Have kids Gaz. There can be benefits to little lies like that that you can only see when you're a parent."

"I don't think I'll be adding to the family just yet, May."

"Oh, why not? I was about the same age as you when I had James."

Gary shook his head in disbelief. "Just no, May. One day maybe but definitely not now!"

May shrugged. "Take your time. I know James would love a cousin whenever you get around to it."

"Can I please not talk to you about 'getting around' to having kids?" Gary cringed.

"Another conversation for another day then!" May laughed airily. "Do you want to stay here tonight? It's way too late to head back to Pallet Town now."

"Do you have enough room?"

"You've stayed here before Gaz! Plus I think James might love to have you around tomorrow. I do tell him lots of stories about you and your trainer days; it pisses Ryan off to no end that his son idolizes his uncle more than his father."

"And Ryan wouldn't mind if I stayed?"

"I'm pretty sure after the Squirtle incident story he'd feel far less threatened." May smirked. "Do you want to go to sleep now? I could get you something to eat first?" she offered.

Gary sat for a moment, weighing up his options. Yes, he was damn hungry. He was also more tired than he could ever remember being. "I think I'd like to go to sleep. I'll eat all your food tomorrow!"

May sighed, "You know, I don't doubt that you would. If James has eating habits that end up being anything like yours then Ryan and I are going to need far better paying jobs to keep up!"

"Hey! You want that kid to grow up strong with those good looking Oak genes intact, don't you?"

"He has plenty of good looking Oak genes from me, thank you very much!" Grabbing her brother by the elbow she pulled him up off the couch so they were both standing. "Come on," she tugged at the hem of his shirt, "Your room is upstairs."

Gary followed his older sister up the narrow staircase, stepping over various toys left behind by James. She led him to the end of the hall, pushing a door open and turning on a light to reveal and small, yet cozy room with a soft looking bed. Pushing past May Gary groaned as he fell face first onto the bed, nuzzling his face into the fluffy pillow. "Geez, make yourself comfortable Gaz!" she joked. "Bathroom is the next room on your right. Come down whenever you're ready. Do you want a pair of Ryan's pajamas?"

"Nah, I'm good." replied Gary, yawning.

May giggled at her little brothers' antics. "Sleep well Gary." She turned off the light and disappeared, leaving Gary, still in jeans and a shirt, sleeping soundly.

May went back down the stairs, picking up the loose toys along the way. "James! I thought I asked you to move the toys on the stairs." She called in the direction of her son.

"Sorry mama!" James called back absently.

May shook her head, dropping the toys into a bucket in the living room. She sat down in front of the phone and dialed the number of the Oak Mansion. She tapped her fingers on the surface of the table as she waited for someone to pick up.

"_Hello?"_ came the tired voice of Professor Oak.

"Hi Grandpa! It's just May."

"_May! How lovely to hear from you! Is there something you need help with?"_

May pouted, "You know, just because I'm not as smart as Gary doesn't mean I need help every time I call!"

The professor laughed, _"__You know I didn't mean it like that May! To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"_

"I just wanted to let you know that Gary's here and he's staying the night."

"_What? Gary's in Celadon?"_

May rolled her eyes playfully. "That is where I live grandpa!"

"_Why is he there?"_

"He said he was with a friend in Cerulean who got some bad news about a friend dying in an accident. She said he hugged her while she cried. Apparently she looked like me after Dad died and he wanted to see me."

"_Oh my…did he say if Misty was OK?"_

"He said she looked devastated, he was worried she'd go like me – wait, Misty, as in Misty Waterflower, Ash's Misty?"

"_It's a strange story how they became friends, but suffice it to say she's no longer Ash's Misty."_

"Oh, OK then…well, he seems to really care about her anyway. He said he didn't want to see what happened to me happen to Misty."

"_That I can understand. He hated how powerless he was to help you."_

"Well," May let out a deep breath, hating having to remember how she was. "Either way, he's fine and he's here. I just thought you'd like to know since its late and all."

"_Thank you for letting me know May. Will he be back tomorrow?"_

"Unless he decides to go back to Cerulean. I don't think he will though, he seemed pretty adamant he shouldn't be with Misty at the moment though."

"_Oh? Why's that?'_

"You know Grandpa, it's late. Maybe you should wait for Gary to explain it all. I'm not even sure I got the whole story. He still looked pretty shook up when he got here."

"_I'll talk to him when he gets back. Thank you for looking out for him May."_

"Hey, I'm his big sister! What am I if not his protector?" May asked jokingly.

"_Even as the overbearing elder sibling, you do a great job! I'll let you go now May. Can you call when he's leaving?"_

'Will do Grandpa. Goodnight!"

"_Goodnight May. Give James and Christopher a hug from me!"_

"Of course. 'Night!" She hung up with a smile.

May walked into the games room where her son and husband were playing a silly video game, laughing happily together. She surveyed the scene with a grin. All she could ever want was for her little brother to experience the same happiness she was having with her family, and to let go of the pain of their own broken childhoods. If Gary could continue on the same path he was on right now, he might be able to have it.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN: **Amazing to think I still have around 7 or 8 more chapters left to churn out for this story, maybe more if I feel like it needs it! I've been thinking about a possible sequel but I'll talk about it more when this is done.

I took some liberties with Gary's sister, hopefully she wasn't too weird! I had to base it off my relationship with my own younger brother!

To any readers who I might have made cry last chapter as one reviewer claimed he/she did (I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume it was a she!), I'm sorry! The emotional stuff got away from me, but I'm going to take it as a compliment that I'm such awesome writer I brought out all your emotions, so thank you :)

Please leave a review! I actually squeal in delight when I see a new review!


	15. Chapter 14: Hey Mist

Sorry this chapter took so long! It was sort of hard to get into when the only real definite about it was the ending! It's also a little shorter than normal…which I have no excuses for! So, let's get stuck into it, shall we?

**DISCLAIMER:** I'm relatively certain that the apparent necessity of writing a disclaimer only serves the purpose of being an exercise in cruelty to further remind myself that I don't own Pokemon and likely never will. Repeating it however many times just drives the message home!

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 14: 'Hey Mist'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Brock was pissed off.

He and Misty were walking back to the Cerulean Gym after receiving a phone call from the local Officer Jenny regarding a meeting with a local lawyer. Even after the information Misty had been able to offer regarding the whereabouts of Marinas' parents, the search was almost pointless; her mother was found to have died four years prior, and there were no records whatsoever of her father. It was entirely open for discussion whether he was dead, alive, living on a boat or playing percussion for a jazz fusion band. It was very much a personal opinion but Brock hated things being so open ended.

Brock provided Misty with much needed moral support at the meeting with the lawyer that morning. She had woken up looking, well, terrible for lack of a better word. Sleeping the vast majority of the previous day and night had done nothing for her appearance, the dull pallor of her skin and the redness of her eyes only served to highlight the fact that she wasn't coping very well with everything at all.

In a bizarre twist the lawyer had managed to uncover, Marina had left the multitude of her belongings, including her Pokemon, to Misty. As it turned out, Marina had been a very well organised young woman, if slightly macabre in Brock's personal opinion, having sorted out much of her personal affairs. This wasn't the issue that had Brock so worked up.

As the discussion with the lawyer wore on, the topic drifted to a document outlining Marina's wishes for her funeral. While perhaps not intentionally, the lawyer was very, very good at laying the guilt trip on a vulnerable Misty, even with Brock sitting right next to her.

"…obviously since Ms. Hyland has no immediate family there isn't anyone to execute her final wishes, it is likely she'll be given a small, simple government funded funeral which of course anyone can attend."

"But those aren't her wishes! She wants a funeral on the beach; she even has a list of people she wants to attend! She has a song she wants played, she wants everyone to wear 'the stupidest shirts in their wardrobes' and she doesn't want it officiated by a minister! Do her wishes count for nothing?" Brock asked, extremely irritated.

"Unfortunately, as I've said, she has no family to execute those wishes, and we can't give every deceased person the funeral they want. It's sad, I know, but it's just one of those things."

"What if I take over the funeral arrangements?" Misty asked quietly, shocking both Brock and the lawyer as she had remained silent for most of the meeting, merely nodding or shaking her head at anything said to her. Brock could only stare at Misty as the lawyer continued on.

"You are of course welcome to take over, but for how organised Ms. Hyland was, she doesn't have any money in her accounts, or funeral insurance. It may be…difficult for you to afford to carry out her wishes."

Misty's eyes narrowed, annoyed to have hers and Marina's finances called into question, no matter how true it was. "I'm sure I can handle it. I only want to give my friend the send-off she asked for."

"Misty…" Brock started.

"No! I want to do this! I owe her this much, OK Brock?"

Brock held up his hands in defeat. Misty turned in her seat to face the condescending lawyer once more. In his annoyed haze he only heard little bits and pieces of the conversation which followed. Eventually, after signing a few forms and shaking the lawyers' hand, both Misty and Brock were lead out of the office, back out into the cheery sunlight of the beautiful, cloudless day.

"It doesn't really seem right, does it?" Misty mused softly beside him, looking into the sky.

"What doesn't?"

"It's so nice out, like the world is willing me to be happy. I know the weather doesn't bend to fit my moods but something cloudy and dreary seems like it'd be more fitting, doesn't it?"

"Is it working at least? Do you feel happy out here?"

"I want to be happy Brock. I'm sure it'll happen soon."

Brock nodded in understanding. It was probably unreasonable for him to want Misty to be immediately happy again. He was so used to seeing Misty bounce back quickly; her fragility was something quite new to him. As they walked, Brock asked the question that had been on his mind since they walked into the lawyers' office together.

"Misty," he began, "why did Marina have a will and proper documentation for her last wishes? She was only twenty three."

Misty smiled slightly. "I never actually knew about her will or anything else, but she was always very superstitious, and she had a terrible habit of visiting psychics and self-proclaimed seers. She did mention once that she always thought she'd die young. I always shrugged that off as adolescent attention seeking angst. I guess she was right."

Brock immediately picked up on her sad tone. He turned to face her and gripped her shoulders gently to make her look at him, noticing tears in her eyes once more. "For the love of…you are not to blame Misty! Now you think not listening to her spout off about something that would make anyone laugh her off makes you responsible? Please, _please_ stop doing that to yourself!"

Misty took deep breaths, trying to compose herself. She nodded her head rapidly to try and appease Brock. Truthfully, Misty was having a very difficult time coming to terms with Marina's death. Nobody seemed to quite understand how she felt. Everyone plastered a sympathetic smile to their face, told her it was going to be alright but none if it was what she wanted or needed to hear. She kept playing out alternate scenarios in her mind, all in which she had been able to do something to save her friend. She no longer blamed Gary; if anything she never did. She blamed herself.

Brock stared at Misty's face, trying to gauge how she was feeling. He liked to think he knew Misty well, better than most anyway, and he could tell she was close to crumbling inside. Sighing, he placed a brotherly arm around her shoulders and held her close, leading her back home.

**-****XXX****-**

Gary woke with a start, somewhat perturbed by the unfamiliar ceiling above him.

Memories of the previous day flooded back, hitting him hard. Groaning, he sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Looking at the watch on his wrist, his eyes bugged; it was freakin' 1pm!

Leaping out of bed in a most ungraceful fashion, Gary stumbled around the room. He tripped on the leg of the nearby table, hitting his head on the ground. He had to admit that if he had been an observer of this very clumsy display he probably would have laughed. Hard too.

Rubbing his head, he wandered into the hallway and to the bathroom. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror, taking notice of the large bags under his eyes that were never normally there. Sleep had come to him the previous night in short bursts. In his dreams he continued to hear Misty crying. Even though Brock had been right in insisting Misty needed her space, he was still incredibly worried about her. He had seen firsthand, even if it was near on seventeen years ago, the effects of grief on someone who was already emotionally fragile.

He splashed some cold water onto his face and rinsed his mouth. Smoothing out the wrinkles from his clothes he slept in the night before he made his way down the staircase, the silence of the house worrying him a little. He wound his way through the house, hearing a steady thump of noise coming from the kitchen. He would never be able to explain why he leapt into the kitchen ready to attack as though he were a ninja.

"Good afternoon Sleeping Beauty!" chirped the happy voice of his sister, chopping vegetables to prepare a salad. She raised an eyebrow at his fighting stance. "Did you sleep well?"

"May? Why didn't you wake me up? And where is everyone?" Gary asked groggily.

"I didn't wake you up because you looked like you needed the sleep. Ryan and I could hear you panting from our room and we were fairly certain you weren't doing the _other_ thing given the state you came here in," She giggled at his slight blush. "As for everyone else, Ryan is at work, James is at pre-school and I put Christopher down for a nap about half an hour ago. Any more questions?"

"Got anything to eat?" he rubbed the side of his neck and grinned sheepishly.

May sighed melodramatically. "I'm sure I can find you something Gaz!" she set about looking through the cupboards. "Would you prefer breakfast or lunch?" she called from her place in the pantry.

"Breakfast. I always feel wrong if I don't have an actual breakfast." He smiled slightly at the memories of his breakfasts with Misty. They hadn't done that in about two weeks.

"What's that smile for? Thinking of someone?" May asked slyly.

"Seriously, how do you keep doing that? Do I need to wear a foil hat to keep you from reading my thoughts?" Gary asked, only half joking.

"Gaz, I grew up with you. I'd be a pretty pathetic sister if I couldn't read you. Are you thinking about Misty?"

Gary stood up straight, eyeing his sister suspiciously. "I never told you it was Misty."

"Grandpa did," she replied easily, dismissing his glare with a wave of her hand. "I called him last night to tell him you were here."

Gary sighed and hung his head, turning it back and forth to get the ache out. "Yes, I'm thinking about Misty."

"Well, I don't know how word association games work for you, and forgive my curiosity but how exactly did you get from 'breakfast' to 'Misty'?"

"I have breakfast with Misty sometimes – "

"And we can stop right there!" May held up her hands to her ears. "I don't need to hear about your exploits the morning after! Even I have limits!"

"Get your head out of the gutter! I told you I wasn't her boyfriend. Hell, yesterday was the first time I had even kissed her!"

"So you and she don't eat breakfast together to mend your ruined stamina?"

"Oh, for fuck – NO! Can't breakfast just be breakfast? Why do you have to make it sound so seedy? It started when I went over to the Gym one morning because she was hung over. I made her breakfast and just looked after her for a while. From then on it was sort of like a little tradition. Sometimes I'd go there and make her something, and sometimes she'd come to the lab. When I went back to work we'd video call in the mornings and - " he stopped at the look on his sister's face.

May stared at her brother for a minute, as though trying to gauge his thoughts and feelings. "You really have changed, haven't you?" She murmured quietly.

Gary gave a wry smirk. "It's a different side of me, isn't it?"

"Gaz, it's awesome that Misty has managed to bring out a side of you I've wanted to see for years now. Honestly I sort of love her for it. It's just different, that's all. I've become so used to only seeing the one side of you, and now…now you've gone and grown up behind our backs."

"You know I'm still the same guy May. You don't need to mourn me just because some girl made me want to grow up."

"Don't call her that! Misty Waterflower is clearly not just 'some girl'! She's nothing short of a bloody miracle worker to be able to put up with you and your insufferable ego and God complex and you need her if you don't want to fall back into old habits. You…_radiate_ happiness when you talk about her Gary! I'd have to smack you with a wet fish to get that dreamy little smile off your face!"

Gary groaned, embarrassed. "I believe you. Now, can we stop being so damn sappy! I'm hungry woman!"

May giggled. "Still wanting breakfast?"

"Hell yes woman!"

"As far as breakfast stuff goes, everyone except me has Nutella on toast. You want that? I might be able to make something else if you – "

"That's fine May, better than fine, actually. It's been years since I had Nutella." May had to laugh at the almost childish expression on his face and the way his eyes lit up at the mention of the hazelnut flavoured spread.

Gary took a seat at the kitchen counter, watching his sister prepare toast for him, feeling rather inadequate. He could make his own toast!

"Don't worry about it Gaz!" He was getting sick of the way she did that!

"But it's just toast! I can make toast for Arceus' sake! I feel like a giant asshole making you do that!"

"Oh please! You've lived the bachelor life for years, and I'm sure in that time you made all your own meals…"

_If you say so, sis._

"…so I'm happy to toast some bread for you, OK?" May admonished gently. The toaster behind her popped. She picked up a plate and turned to retrieve the bread. "Now," she pulled a butter knife from the drawer, "Ryan only likes a little bit, but I can't get James to eat anything less than near on half the bloody jar. Please tell me you occupy a healthy middle ground?"

"I don't know!" Gary exclaimed. "I guess I just have a normal amount! Why are you so weird about the Nutella?"

"I'm not weird, least of all about this disgusting spread! I don't get to see you very often anymore Gaz, forgive me if I'd like things to be perfect for you when you're here!"

"The so-called proper proportion of Nutella to bread doesn't make a perfect visit, May."

May snorted. "Tell that to James who doesn't believe it was a good day at school unless his Nutella was more than a centimetre thick in his sandwich." She finished spreading the toast, and handed it over to Gary who took it and immediately started eating it appreciatively. "Are you going to head back to Pallet?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Trying to get rid of me sis?"

May huffed. "Geez Gaz, I'm just curious! You're more than welcome to stay if you need to."

Gary chuckled. "I know, and I'm very thankful to have an awesome sister like you, but I really should get back."

May glanced at the clock on the wall. "Even if you left now you'd still be getting to Pallet Town pretty late."

"I'm going to stop by Cerulean City first." Gary tried to say through a mouthful of toast.

May smiled at him knowingly. "So you'll get to Pallet even later. I thought you were going to give her some space?"

Gary brushed some crumbs that had fallen on him onto the plate. "I'm just checking in May, I'm not going to do something stupid."

May smiled gently. "I know you wouldn't." she replied softly. "Do you want to shower or anything first?"

Gary glanced down, taking in his appearance. "I think I'll be OK to hold out. Thanks though." He took his last bite of toast and handed the plate back to May who in turn placed it in the sink. He stood from the stool and stretched. "I should probably get going."

"Are you sure? You'll probably get interrogated by Grandpa and Delia when you get back; I know how much you'd like to avoid that!"

"All the more reason for me to leave now so I'm back when they're asleep." He walked around the bench, shocking May by pulling her into a warm hug. "Thanks for having me sis."

"Gaz, you will always be welcome here. Just promise you won't make me wait two years again; James as good as worships you, and I want Christopher to know his uncle. And if you can manage to get Misty on your side I'd love to meet her."

Gary chuckled and pulled away. "We'll have to wait and see on that front."

"Aww come on! Where's that Oak confidence? Where's that Gary who won't quit until he gets what he wants?"

He shook his head. "It's not about what I want any more."

May was taken aback, falling silent for a moment. "Wow. I never would have believed those words could come from your mouth if I hadn't just heard it."

"I know, even I'm still trying to get used to it."

"She'd be crazy to pass you up Gaz."

Again, Gary shook his head. "No, she'd probably be justified if she did."

May gaped at him. "Are you trying to make me pass out? Who the hell are you and what did you do to my baby brother?"

"Don't you like the new me?" Gary smirked.

"The old you is in there, just with a new outlook on things. And I told you last night Gaz, I couldn't be prouder of the man you are now."

"I'm glad I have the stamp of approval from at least one woman!" Gary laughed. "I should probably get going now May." She nodded, both of them walking out of the house towards Gary's car.

"You still drive this thing?"

"Cherry hasn't let me down yet. Why do you ask?"

"It's just…it's an old car. I'm surprised it still runs, let alone gets you here in one piece."

Gary moved to open the car door. "It gets serviced regularly, nothing but the best for such a fine automobile."

May cast a critical eye over every facet of the car. "Promise you'll call when you get back? You can try to convince me all you want but I don't trust this death-trap."

"Hey! It got me here, didn't it?"

She folded her arms. "Yes, but will it get you back?"

"I guess we'll have to wait and see." Gary replied as he slid into the seat and closed his door.

May stood back as Gary turned a key in the ignition and started the engine. He wound down the window and looked at his sister once more.

"Anything else you'd like to add, sis?"

"You know it all Gaz." She smiled. "Just promise me you won't give up. All I'll ever want for you is happiness, and I really think you'll have it with her. After everything you've been through you and everything you insisted on doing to yourself, you deserve to be happy."

Gary smiled genuinely. "Thank you May."

"Bye Gary. Come back soon, OK?"

"Come on May! You're an Oak too; you of all people should be impervious to my charms!"

May rolled her eyes. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

Gary laughed. "Tell James I'm sorry. I'll make it up to him next time."

"I'll hold you to that Gaz. Drive safe. If it seems like the car might explode, barrel roll out."

"Oh yeah, because if the explosion doesn't kill me, rolling out of a car at top speed certainly won't." Gary replied sarcastically, pulling the car out of the driveway, waving back at May. "Bye sis. I'll call when I get back. And thank you for everything."

May watched her younger brother drive back down the road and out of sight in that old piece of crap he called a car. Even when it had been their Dad's she had her reservations about it. From her spot on the veranda, she heard the cries of baby Christopher. She sighed; and here she had hoped she might have been able to have an afternoon nap. She walked back into the house to placate her crying son. That call to her Grandpa would have to wait.

**-****XXX****-**

Brock sat at the dining room table, calculator in hand, crunching the numbers. He held his head in his hands and sighed. There was not a snowflakes' chance in hell that Misty would be able to afford this funeral.

Misty had retreated to her bedroom almost as soon as they had walked back through the door that afternoon. It was now 6pm and he still hadn't seen her except for the times he came to her bedroom to bring her food. Every now and then he would go back upstairs and quietly stand outside her door, listening for something, _anything_ to indicate that Misty was still there and hadn't run off somewhere. Sometimes he heard a soft snoring, sometimes sobbing, once even something that sounded kind of like a giggle which confused him. He never entered the room, he figured when Misty was ready to talk, she would, and he didn't want to press her for it. But Brock knew there was too much going on in her mind for one person to take.

On paper, Marina's wishes on their own were simple; it was costs like the flowers, cremation, small but necessary things like that Brock honestly never considered began to add up to proportions even he couldn't comprehend.

_How the hell does anyone afford a decent funeral when a frickin' casket alone comes in at six grand?_

Even if Brock dipped into his own savings to help they still wouldn't be anywhere near the amount they needed. Maybe there was something they could sell? Could they hold a bake sale or something? Exhibition battles where you paid for admission? Is it even ethical or anything like that to fund raise for a funeral?

A knocking at the door shook Brock from his fundraising thoughts (_none of which would raise enough money in time anyway_). He stood from his seat and walked over to the door, looking through the peephole to see a rather dishevelled looking Gary Oak, looking like a well-dressed hobo.

Brock furrowed his brow, wondering what Gary was doing back so soon. He opened the door to face him properly. Both men stared each other down for a few moments. "What are you doing here Gary?" Brock asked when the silence became stifling.

"I didn't come to see her Rock boy, she needs space and I'm going to give it to her. I came to see you." He glanced at the stairs from his place in the doorway, knowing who was at the top. "How is she?"

Brock didn't answer, instead choosing to take in Gary's appearance, the bags under his eyes and his unshaven face. "Did you even go home yesterday? You're still in the same clothes."

Gary gritted his teeth. "Not that it's any of your business, but I went to see my sister yesterday. How is Misty?"

Brock bristled at Gary's tone. Sure, he was pleased he made Misty happy and vice versa but Arceus, the guy could be an ass! He pushed aside his personal thoughts; at least they had one thing in common. "You said it yourself yesterday. Not great and she won't be any time soon. She barely comes out of her room, I don't know if she's eating. Today she had a meeting with some lawyer regarding Marina's will and final wishes. She decided she'd take over the funeral arrangements. I don't want to tell her she can't afford it though; I don't want to stress her out anymore that I need to."

Gary moved to look Brock in the eye. "How much do you need?"

Brock raised an eyebrow. "About twenty thousand. Why?"

Without so much as a word Gary walked back to his car. Brock watched him sit back down and pull pick something up from the passenger seat. He watched Gary scribble something for a few moments before coming back, holding a small piece of paper. He held it out to Brock who slowly extended his arm to take it. He unfolded the paper and read the contents, his eyes bulging in shock. "What the hell is this?"

"A cheque for twenty grand. That should be enough right?"

"Why?"

"Because you can't. I don't want to stress Misty out either. If I can help, I want to, and this is something I can help with."

"But this…" Brock stared blankly at the cheque, "This is too much Gary."

"No it's not. If anything, it's just enough. If you need any more, then tell me." He moved to leave but was stopped by Brock reaching out to grab his shoulder.

"What should I tell Misty?"

Gary drew a deep breath. "If you value your rocks, you won't tell her a damn thing. Make something up."

Brock took a deep breath and pocketed the cheque. He didn't want to ask why Gary was able to afford paying upfront for a funeral; he guessed being a researcher paid well. "Thank you, Gary."

"I'm not doing it for you. Don't you dare tell her." With that, Gary turned back to his car drove off into the darkness.

Somewhat confused, Brock turned back through the door. Over the years, or perhaps just since taking up with Misty, Gary Oak had become quite the enigma, keeping everyone guessing. Just when you thought you had him pinned down, he went and did something completely to the contrary. Like cutting you a cheque for twenty thousand dollars.

He sat back down at the table and opened a laptop to start properly researching prices. Gary's money would be more than enough to pay for the funeral, and then some. Brock allowed himself to smile. Gary Oak was really something else. Any gesture he made for Misty, large or small, all served the end purpose of making her smile. When Misty realised Marina would have the funeral she wanted, hopefully she would smile at least a little bit. And once more, it would all be thanks to Gary.

**-XXX-**

Misty had very little to do with organising the funeral proceedings. As she wallowed in a perpetual state of sadness and self-pity, everything that needed to be done had been deferred to Brock. She was confident he would be able to do everything properly, and she was thankful that the issue of money had never been bought up. On top of everything else she didn't want to have to worry about money, or the lack thereof.

As the sun rose on the morning of the funeral, Misty found herself sitting on the cliff overlooking the Cerulean Cape, watching the sun rise over the ocean in debatably one of the most beautiful natural displays in the world. It was the first time she had left the Gym voluntarily in the past week. Obviously, the guilt and sadness she felt over Marina's death hung over her like a cloud, but what made her feel even guiltier on top of that was the fact that the _other_ things that had happened that day and over the week prior also weighed on her mind. Why the fuck was she so concerned about Gary's kiss and confession and how frickin' fluffy it had made her feel when one of her best friends had been killed?

These feelings had been tormenting her as of late to the point that they were almost driving her insane. As much as she appreciated having Brock around, he was not the person she needed to help her sort through everything.

Misty and Gary hadn't spoken since that day. This confused her greatly; on the one hand she knew Gary would be considerate enough to give her space she knew she needed to deal with everything that had happened, but on the other hand she almost resented him for not staying when she felt she needed him most. They had never really spoken in detail about his parents, but Misty had a vague idea of what had happened to them, and she knew Gary would have been…helpful, for lack of a better word, to talk to about everything.

Her thoughts drifted to Marina, as they had done all week. Countless memories of the time they had spent together played out in her mind making her smile slightly. Marina was always happy, and actively encouraged others around her to be happy. That was when Misty was hit like a bolt of lightning by a sudden moment of clarity; Marina wouldn't want Misty to blame herself. Marina wanted Misty to go have some fun and bang the next available guy she saw. Marina hated seeing Misty wallow in self-pity and did everything she could short of bending time and space itself to see her smile, that was just the sort of person she was. For the first time in nearly two weeks, Misty allowed herself to smile properly once again, hoping Marina could see it from whatever beautiful place she was in now.

"For you, Marina."

The sun progressively climbed higher and higher into the sky, glinting on the ripples of the ocean. For the first time in a while, taking in the beautiful sight, Misty felt almost at peace, in a state of Zen that had been foreign to her over the past few weeks.

Ideally she would like to have stayed in that position all day, drinking in the calm, almost happy feeling that washed over her, but there were things she needed to do. Standing up, she began the short walk back to the Gym. Brock, being an early riser, would probably already be awake and looking for her.

The journey back wasn't nearly as long as she would have liked. As expected, Brock was awake, standing dutifully at the stove, pushing the contents of a pan back and forth. Misty's footsteps startled him. He turned and smiled at her.

"Good morning." He greeted in a sympathetic tone that Misty had to admit she was getting rather sick of. "I didn't know you were up."

"I went for a walk." She replied. "I watched the sunrise over the Cerulean Cape."

"Did you get any answers?"

"What do you mean?"

"For as long as I've known you Misty, you've said you go to the Cape to think about things, to get answers. Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked.

She smiled, surprising her older friend. "I did."

Brock nodded carefully, very surprised. This was a very different Misty to the one he was dealing with yesterday or the day before. Deciding not to press on the apparent epiphany she had had, he pushed a plate in front of her. "Eat." Was all he said as he turned back to the sink.

Brock decided this day would obviously be one for surprises as he watched Misty pick up and fork and properly eat her meal. Sure, it had only been an egg and a piece of toast (he wouldn't have expected her to eat any more than that), but it was the first meal she had finished all week.

"Are you OK Misty?" he asked, studying her curiously.

Misty looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think I am."

"You do realise what today is, right?"

"Yes, of course I do. I just came to some conclusions, thought about the eulogy and things just made sense again. I'll probably cry, stutter uncontrollably, become overwhelmingly emotional, but I can see things again. I think I've turned a corner."

Brock heaved a heavy sigh of relief and swept her up in a brotherly hug. "Thank Arceus." He breathed. "We were all so worried about you."

"All of you?" she asked, confused, pulling away from the hug. "Who else was worried about me?"

"Well, Gary for one."

"I never saw Gary come here."

"He came over a few days ago, called last night. He's been pretty concerned about you."

"But – "

"Don't worry about it Misty, you'll see him today." Brock cut in, starting on the dishes in the sink. "In the meantime, I'll need your help later deciding which of my shirts I bought with me is the 'stupidest'"

**-XXX-**

Brock had done a wonderful job.

A portion of the beach had been sectioned off for their use. Chairs had been lined up for the guests. Marina's favourite flowers, a simple and happy looking daisy, were littered everywhere, adding to the almost cheerful atmosphere. Marina's cremation had also been taken care of, her remains on a table behind her in an indecently bright pink urn, as per her request.

Misty stood in front of the surprisingly large crowd, preparing to deliver the eulogy. It had turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun was shining, there was a gentle breeze, and the sound of the waves lapping at the shore ensured a strong sense of calm.

If she didn't know any better, she would have believed the guest list requested by Marina was comprised entirely of former booty calls, male _and_ female, and maybe a few childhood friends, as well as Brock and Gary sitting in the front, everyone wearing the most ridiculous shirts anyone could imagine. There was no family however, although Marina made her own family wherever she went.

The crowd fell silent. Misty had never been an overly good public speaker and was almost sorry to admit she was nervous, even though everyone in attendance was there because they had known and loved Marina also. Her eyes scanned the crowd, locking briefly with Gary who nodded slightly and gave a warm smile, encouraging her to continue. She wasn't surprised to find herself smiling back, drawing on the strength he was giving her.

"As most of you would already know," she started, "Marina was an incredibly selfless person. Even at my lowest points she always did all she could to help me back up again. Even now, she is still doing the same for me.

"Travelling with Ash and Brock taught me the meaning of friendship, but Marina was an entirely different case. I had never been friends properly with a girl before; hanging around with her when I came back was an experience in itself. At first I assumed all girls were so lively and spirited, but it became apparent that it was all Marina."

Her breath was catching, thinking of what she was going to say, hoping she could continue saying it. She felt tears burn the back of her eyes. She locked on to Gary again, who silently encouraged her to go on. "A positive female influence has always been rare in my life, Marina filled in as a sister, offering me advice on boys, clothes, accessories, stuff I never had any real idea about. I've always been a tomboy, but Marina taught me how to be a girl. Now that she isn't here anymore, I'm not entirely sure what to do next.

"But I know Marina doesn't want me to blame myself, she doesn't want me to wallow in the deepest pits of misery like I have been. She did whatever it took to make me smile when I was down, and it'd be the biggest insult of all to her memory if I let myself drown in it. Just look at these ridiculous shirts she asked us to wear! That is proof she wanted us to laugh and smile here today. And this urn? Marina never wore pink a day in her life! She too came here in something ridiculous. She wanted us out on the beach and not in some stuffy church. She didn't want this to be officiated by a minister; she wanted us all to take turns telling stories, to remind us all of the happy times we shared with her. So," Misty picked up the urn, kicked off her shoes and gestured for everyone to follow her to the shoreline. "Now we give her the final send off, the goodbye she had planned for us all." Misty opened the urn and tipped the ashes into the ocean, everyone watching the ebb and flow of the tide take the ashes back into the sea with it.

"Goodbye Marina. I wish you a peaceful journey to wherever it may lead you." And even though she had managed to keep it together for the entirety of the speech, she couldn't hold it in anymore; she began to cry, closing her hands over her face.

Warm arms wrapped around her and held her tightly, reassuringly. She didn't have to look up to know who it was.

"I am so sorry I said those horrible things to you Gary." She whispered through her tears.

He shushed her quiet. "I know you didn't mean it, it doesn't matter know." He replied just as quietly. He felt her arms tighten around him, clutching to the material of his shirt.

"Did I do OK?"

"You did brilliant Red, she would have been so proud of you. I know I am."

Misty pulled back from the hug but didn't pull away. "Brock said you were worried about me."

"Why wouldn't I be? You'd pretty much had a bomb dropped on you Red! That week you'd had, then what I did, then the cop coming around, I was scared of what you might do to yourself." He brushed the hair out of her eyes. "Did you mean what you said? You don't blame yourself?"

Misty smiled though the tears. "It took me a while but no, I don't. Not anymore."

Gary sighed, an odd sight for Misty who had never seen him do such a thing before, before drawing her back into his arms. Misty closed her eyes, burying her face into his chest as he stroked her back gently, allowing herself to relax in his hold. She had no idea how long they had been standing there like that before she felt a hand around her shoulder.

Misty turned, surprised at the sudden contact. She tensed in Gary's arms, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, taking in the messy raven hair, deep brown eyes and lopsided, if slightly confused, smile of one of her best friends.

"Hey Mist."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN: **Hmm…interesting development! For those wondering, no this will not become some nasty bitter love triangle, so don't panic (I'm hoping I don't have to explain who the friend was!)

I wrapped this chapter up sort of late at night, so please forgive any sloppy writing or editing!

In other news, I've posted an Egoshipping one-shot! It ended up a bit late for Valentine's but whatever, it's alright and I posted it anyway! Do me a favour and take a look at it if you haven't already!

Review, review, review! That's how I get my jollies these days!


	16. Chapter 15: About A Girl

Welcome back everyone! Can't believe I've banged out so many chapters in a little over two months. The perils of being between jobs people!

Before we get into it I must give thanks to another author, Charityx (another great Egoshipping author who, if you haven't already, you should definitely check out! Her story 'Hunt' is awesome!), who was very helpful in helping me muddle through my ideas for this and the next chapter, as well as suggesting some of her own. This one is for her!

Another thing I should mention; the May mentioned in this chapter is the Hoenn May, not Gary's sister. Ordinarily I would have named his sister Daisy to avoid confusion, but Misty already has her sister Daisy and it's been established that Gary slept with her. I don't think Gary would bang a chick that shared his sister's name, so her name is May instead since Hoenn May will only ever be mentioned in passing, she'll never be a seen character.

I'm not 100% sure of this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it anyway :)

**DISCLAIMER: **No, I don't own Pokemon. I'm a sad little person whose brain has gone soft after spending a few too many days at home, watching the Pokemon anime to pass the time, who then decided "Hey! I can totally write that!" Why they haven't cottoned on to my awesome skills and offered me a job actually writing for the anime I'll never know…

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 15: 'About a Girl'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

_Misty turned, surprised at the sudden contact. She tensed in Gary's arms, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, taking in the messy raven hair, deep brown eyes and lopsided, if slightly confused, smile of one of her best friends._

_"Hey Mist."_

**-XXX-**

"Ash," Misty breathed, too shocked to bother extricating herself from Gary's hold which had tightened around her. "What are you doing here?"

The tension was palpable. Had Misty turned to look at Gary she would have seen the look of unmistakable anger and annoyance with a hint of something else cross his features. Misty was too concerned with drying her eyes, trying not to look as though she was also somewhat shocked and annoyed herself. Ash just stared back and forth from Misty to Gary, as though trying to make sense of the situation. "Brock called me last week, said you might need some help but I guess – "

"Hey! You made it!" Brock came bounding up to them, clapping Ash on the back firmly causing the young man to wince, and winding him slightly.

"Good to see you too, Brock." He coughed.

Silence fell between the quartet standing ankle-deep in the Cerulean Bay. Neither wanted to be the one to admit that the silence was hideously awkward, nor did they want to be the one to break it. Reluctantly Gary loosened his hold on Misty, only to place an arm around her shoulders in an unmistakably possessive gesture before turning to smirk at Ash; old habits truly did die hard.

"Good to see you, Ashy-boy." He greeted tersely, trying to be polite only for Misty's sake.

"Um, you too Gary. What are you doing here and…that?" he gestured a hand in his and Misty's direction, indicating the confusing mess that was, of all the people in the world, Gary's arm around his ex-girlfriend. Brock had had the foresight to warn him about Misty's burgeoning relationship with his old rival, but he didn't expect them to be so…close.

"I came for the funeral." Gary replied shortly. "Why are you here?"

"Brock said – "

"Where's Pikachu?" asked Misty, determined not to let Ash's arrival turn into a macho pissing contest between the men.

"I left him in Pallet with Ma – "

"What? You were never at the mansion! When did you get back?"

"Can I finish a damn sentence?"

"Hey Ash, where's May?"

"Not here, thank Arceus. I managed to leave her in Hoenn. Brock, I don't think I can deal with her anymore – "

"Ash! When did you get back? No one said you were coming and – "

"As if I was going to tell you when I got there – "

"FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY WOULD YOU ALL SHUT UP?" Misty yelled angrily. "Arceus this is still a funeral! What the hell is wrong with you three?" She looked back and forth between Ash and Brock and Gary, who all looked to be surprised at her rather violent outburst, before pulling herself away from Gary's hold and walking quickly back down the along shore.

The three men stared after her, not sure whether or not it was in their best interests to go after her.

"Nice going, Ash." Gary muttered, shaking his head.

"_Me?_ You were the one that – "

"Gary?" Brock interjected, "maybe you could go after her?"

Gary didn't need to be asked twice, jogging down the beach to catch up with her. Ash gaped after him, watching from the distance as Gary said something to her that he couldn't hear, wrapping his arm around Misty's shoulders again as they walked on.

"Brock, I know you mentioned…on the phone and all…but, please tell me what's happening with those two?" Ash asked, desperate for a plausible answer.

Brock followed Ash's gaze towards the pair, "I wish I knew Ash, it would take a magician to work out what's happening there, but he makes her happy so I'm not going to argue with it."

"Seriously? Gary Oak, the arrogant ass who goes through girls like they're going extinct, makes Misty happy? How is that even possible?"

"Ash, watch them." Brock pointed ahead. The two were barely visible, but Misty was leaning into Gary's side, and he was resting his head on hers as they slowly made their way along the beach. "No offense Ash, but she was never like that with you. Sure, when you guys were together she loved you, but what they have is something completely different, it's on another level entirely."

"Are they together?" Ash crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze not wavering despite the fact that Gary and Misty were no longer visible.

Brock shook his head. "Not yet. But it's only a matter of time."

"Why did you call me here?" he pulled his gaze from the empty horizon to look a Brock again. "You can't possibly think I'd be happy to see this."

"When I called you up Misty was…heartbroken over so many things. You know her better than most, I thought you might be able to help her, but she came to her own conclusions this morning."

"Brock, there is a giant, Gary-shaped hole in your story. How the hell did that happen?"

Brock sighed and waved a hand. "I don't know the whole story. Something about pool pumps and breakfasts, I don't know. All I know is they seem good for each other."

Ash gaped at him. "Brock, its Gary Oak! You remember? The ass who gave us all crap when we were kids, who seems to hold a massive grudge against me for no particular reason, why the hell are you OK with leaving Misty, our best friend no less, with someone like him?"

"Look, I've done what I can. I believe he's changed, he's definitely not the same kid he was and he's not the guy you read about in the magazines so yes, I have no doubt that Misty will always be safe with him, and," he paused remembering the night Gary handed over the cheque, "I've seen on more than one occasion that he really cares for her."

"You'll forgive me for not being as confident as you are." He murmured under his breath.

"Ash," Brock began slowly and hesitantly, "you're definitely over Misty, aren't you? You seem to be taking this kind of hard."

Ash shot him a look of disbelief. "What? Of course I am! We're better off as friends, and she's one of my very best friends, nothing will ever change that. I just don't want to see her hurt, that's all."

"How long do you have here? You should probably have a chat with both of them."

He rubbed the back of his neck absently. "I'm here as long as I'm needed, though something tells me I'm not really needed anymore."

Brock scoffed, "She'll always need her friends Ash, now more than ever."

"Who was the girl that died?"

"Her name was Marina. Misty said you met her too when you guys were travelling the Orange Islands with that other rat-faced bastard. She was another water trainer who told Misty her Psyduck was going to evolve since its tail was glowing."

Ash's brows furrowed in concentration, trying to remember. "Yeah, I think I remember her, something about another Golduck, it was sort of weird. I didn't know Misty stayed friends with her though."

Brock crossed his arms and kicked at the water. "Apparently they became friends again a little after she left us when we went to Hoenn."

"Wait, who's a rat-faced bastard? Are you talking about Tracey?" Ash noticed the way Brock's features darkened at the mention of Tracey's name. "I didn't even know you knew Tracey."

"I didn't really, not until recently anyway." His tone was like ice.

"What's your problem? Tracey was a cool guy."

Brock looked over at his younger friend. "No, he's not." He replied simply.

"Are you going to tell me why?" Ash looked on expectantly.

Brock shrugged. "Let's just say he was a big contributor to why Misty was so upset."

"What?" Ash all but yelled. "But he's always had a huge crush on Misty!"

"Exactly the problem. He didn't like Gary getting too close, said some nasty things that made Misty pretty upset." he explained. Tugging on Ash's shirt sleeve to get him to follow they began to walk off the beach, careful not to disturb the people tidying the chairs and tables, back towards the city and to the Gym.

"Oh…was she really that bad Brock? Something tells me this isn't just about that Marina girl."

"There was other stuff, yes, mostly just Tracey being a dick and Misty being stubborn but I don't think we should talk about it now."

"Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be back in Pewter City?"

"I came here when I first heard about the Gary stuff. I go back home every so often but I've been enjoying it here. Plus Misty's needed the help lately."

Ash nodded slowly. "I'm glad you were here for her. I'd have hated it if I knew she was doing all this alone."

"Not that she ever would have told you." Brock smirked.

Ash rolled his eyes. "Let's go back. I'm getting hungry."

"Hmm, what a shock…"

**-XXX-**

"Hey Red, wait up!"

Misty's pace along the beach slowed as she heard Gary from behind her. Stopping, she turned and watched as he fell into step beside her. "Sorry about that back there." he said sincerely, panting slightly from the run.

"It wasn't your fault Gary." she replied softly, looking out into the depths of the water.

They walked for a few metres before stopping again, relishing in the cool sea blowing gently around them. Gary found himself staring at the way the sunlight glinted off her copper hair making it seem as though it was lit from within, smiling when he realised her eyes were the exact same shade of blue-green as the ocean she loved so much. He worked up the nerve to put his arm back around her, encouraged when she didn't try to shrug it off. "It got a little crowded back there, didn't it?" he tried offhandedly.

"I just…I wasn't expecting to see him." She replied distantly.

"Yeah," he ran his free hand through his hair, "If he was at the mansion I thought I might have at least seen him or something before I came." Misty simply remained silent. "Are you doing OK, Red? Aside from the obvious stuff?"

"I'll be alright Gary." She leaned into him, sighing. Tentatively he moved to rest his head against hers and placed a soft kiss in her hair, feeling almost intoxicated by the scent of her caramel shampoo. "I really am sorry about the things I said." She said quietly.

"And I told you, don't worry about it."

"Gary," Misty started, hesitating slightly. "Did you mean the things you said that day? And that kiss – "

"Stop," He placed a finger over her lips to silence her. "We're not talking about that now."

"But – "

"Red, I understand you can't get enough of my lips, I really do, but this is not the time," he looked at their surroundings and smirked, "maybe the place, but definitely not the time."

Smiling slightly, Misty nodded and slowly they continued walking. "What do you have against Ash?" she asked suddenly.

Gary raised an eyebrow wryly at the question. "It's probably not the time to talk about that either. It goes back a fair way; I'll tell you one day."

"Have you ever told Ash why? He's always been confused about why you're such an ass to him."

"No, I never told him. In all honesty I'm a little embarrassed by it." He fell silent, letting Misty know he wasn't going to say anymore on the subject.

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" she bit her lip in a gesture Gary couldn't help but find adorable.

"Do we have to talk about anything right now? Wouldn't you rather just…I don't know, relax? We could go get some ice cream or something?" he suggested.

Misty shook her head. "I'd like to sleep. I haven't slept properly for over a week."

"You think you'll be able to?" she nodded and Gary smirked mischievously, "Well then," he swept one arm under her legs and the other came around to support her back, picking her up bridal style, laughing at her squealing and started walking off the beach. "Let's get you home, shall we?"

"Don't you have to go back to Pallet Town?" she asked breathlessly.

Gary looked down at her and smiled, shaking his head. "I'm here as long as you need me, Red." And with that she allowed him to lead her back to the city.

**-XXX-**

After letting Misty go to sleep, the atmosphere inside the Gym was decidedly tense with the three men there together.

For the past few hours they occupied the chairs in the living room, Ash and Brock sitting on the sofa, Gary sitting in the single armchair. Apart from the occasional griping remark from Ash, or an unnecessarily awkward exchange between Gary and Brock, it was dead silent; each man was absorbed in his own thoughts.

Gary and Brock held a begrudging respect for one another, but adding Ash to the mix was proving to be volatile; short of shooting sparks from his eyes he was doing all he could to let the other two men know his own dissatisfaction with what was happening. Brock, for his part, was getting pissed off at the juvenile attitude of Ash and the way Gary was riling him up so easily.

"Does Gary really have to be here?" asked Ash for the eleventh time in as many hours as though Gary was not in fact sitting in the chair opposite him.

"Of course I need to be here Ashy. You heard the woman." replied Gary, not even looking up from the scientific journal he was perusing.

"She said 'play nice'!"

"Exactly. Not 'piss of, Gary'." He dropped the journal to the table and leaned back with his hands behind his head and shot a wink at Ash. "So play nice Ash."

"You haven't changed a bit, have you Gary?" Ash mumbled bitterly.

"As awesome as ever, I'd imagine." He replied, making a big show of examining his fingernails.

Brock sighed in exasperation before putting the newspaper he had been reading down on the coffee table. Something about those two just made them regress to their childhood selves when they were in the same room together. "Would you two stop this? Ash, you're being incredibly immature and Gary, well, you should know better."

"He started it." Ash mumbled.

"Arceus, Ketchum! What are you, twelve? And people actually wonder why we aren't friends."

"You're a douchebag Oak!"

"How goes becoming a Pokemon Master, Ashy?"

"OK, that's it. Ash, go see if Misty's awake, do what you came here to do and bring her down for dinner." Brock cut Gary off as he was about to protest. "Gary, just shut up, _please_."

Shooting Gary a satisfied smirk, Ash got up and ascended the staircase to Misty's room. He knocked on her door, surprised when he heard her voice telling him to come in. Carefully he turned the door knob and poked his head in, seeing her sitting cross legged on the bed with a photo album in her hands. He could have sworn he saw her face fall with disappointment when her eyes landed on him, but she caught herself quickly and gave a small smile.

"Ash, I thought you were…" she quickly shook her head, "never mind."

He crossed the room and sat beside her, noting that he hadn't been this close to her in nearly six months. He peeked over her shoulder to see the pictures she was looking at, seeing a vaguely familiar girl with Misty in most of them.

"Is that her?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, that's Marina." She replied, not looking up.

"Brock was telling me we met her in the Orange Islands?" he asked as Misty turned the pages.

"We did."

"I'm sorry Mist."

She shook her head. "Don't be Ash. There's no reason to say sorry."

"I know," he rubbed the back of his neck absently. "It's just what you're supposed to say."

"I've always thought that was silly. You did nothing wrong, you have no reason to say you're sorry."

Both fell silent. It was at that moment that both realised that any lingering sexual tension or romantic feelings between them was gone, replaced by a feeling of love that while incredibly strong, held entirely different connotations for them both.

"How have you been since we broke up Misty?" he asked abruptly.

She looked at him, surprised. She closed the photo album, her fingers tracing the indentations in the leather of the book. "Um, fine I guess. We weren't really couple material."

"I know, but even after we broke up I was still upset about it."

Misty snorted derisively, "Could have fooled me."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What the hell was the deal picking up with May again not two weeks after you left and went to Hoenn?"

Ash groaned. "I didn't mean for that to happen! I was perfectly happy with the idea of training on my own and working myself out, but I met her in Oldale Town and she insisted I let her come. I had no wiggle room! I didn't really want her there and let me tell you I didn't want her kissing me in front of the press either!" he eyed her oddly for a moment before continuing. "Why? Did it make you jealous or something?"

"I don't know if jealous is quite the right word for it. I was more pissed off that you seemed to be able to move on so easily while I wasn't able." She smirked at him. "It was almost like you were rubbing your freedom in my face."

Ash simply rolled his eyes, "I actually took a while to get over our relationship. May didn't help at all, and I certainly didn't go along with her to piss you off. Like I said, she just sort of showed up."

Misty giggled. "Brock thought she was just after your money."

He laughed. "Well I can tell you she did spend a fair portion of it." He turned to look at her seriously, placing a hand over hers. "But you are OK?"

She nodded slowly. "I had some moments, I mean; we were together for three years! Even if we weren't a couple anymore, I still missed you when you left, I'd have missed you anyway. Regardless of anything that happens between us Ash, you'll always be my best friend. My first friend, really."

"Same here Mist, first friend and best friend."

Smiling, she leaned into his side and hugged him tightly. "I hate it when you seem to disappear off the face of the earth Ash. It'd be nice if we could at least talk every now and then."

"Misty, I kind of value your advice more than anyone else – "

"As flattering as that is, it's not what I mean," she pulled away. "Even before we got together we used to talk for hours on end about whatever random crap we were thinking about. I miss that."

Ash's lips quirked upwards. "I miss that too."

"Well, what are we going to do about it?"

"I guess we should try harder."

She smiled. "I'd like that."

They looked at each other for a few moments, each enjoying the others comforting presence. "Well, since we've got that sorted out, there's something else I'd like to ask you about."

"What's that?"

Ash rolled his eyes. "Don't play dumb Mist. I know you know exactly what I'm going to ask you about."

She turned to him sheepishly. "About Gary?"

He nodded. "Yeah, about Gary." he said quietly.

Misty chewed her bottom lip, feeling strangely nervous. "What do you want to know?"

"I guess for starters, I'd like to know why. Gary gave all of us so much crap, why would…I don't know, why would you get together with him?"

"For starters Ash, I'm not…together…with him." She blushed remembering, well, everything. Everything from the kiss to the simplest touch between them, the mere thought made her burn.

Ash smirked, "Could have fooled me." He repeated her earlier words. "You know you can't lie to me Mist, besides Brock already told me everything."

Misty looked confused. "I didn't tell him anything that happened."

"He knows you love Gary, and," he scrunched up his face in distaste. "He knows Gary loves you. He doesn't need to know anything else. What I want to know is, why Gary?"

Misty narrowed her eyes, "Why does it bother you so much?"

"I know you're a smart girl Mist, and I know you'd sooner kick Gary in the crotch than let him hurt you, but that doesn't stop me from being worried. You know what he was like as a kid, and you know what he was like as recently as six months ago. Why did you choose him?"

"I guess that's it; I didn't choose him. I didn't go looking for him and initially I certainly didn't invite him. That's not how it works, Ash."

"Well, when did you first realise you liked him?"

Misty smiled softly, "When he left."

Ash raised an eyebrow and smirked, "And that didn't tip you off? You fell for him when he left? I certainly like Gary when he leaves too."

She laughed and elbowed him in the ribs gently. "You know that's not what I mean!" she took a deep breath. "When he left I was distracted, I missed him like crazy, I felt like a part of me was missing. When I saw him again, it was just a phone call, but I actually felt happy and whole again. That was when I knew for sure."

Ash chuckled quietly. "Wow, you got sappy!"

"You asked for the truth."

"Is he good to you?"

"You saw him earlier. I couldn't ask for anything more." She replied simply.

"Mist, I can't lie to you; I don't like Gary and he doesn't like me. It's been that way since we were five and you've seen it firsthand on more than one occasion. But if he makes you happy, I won't…you know, do anything." He finished awkwardly.

"Thank you Ash." She said sincerely.

"I just…I hope you know what you're doing. I hope you and Brock are right about Gary because honestly, I've always felt sorry for him. He never seemed happy, just sort of depressed which admittedly he covered up well, and I've never seen him with friends. When he was with you earlier, that's the first time I saw a real smile on his face. If you can make each other happy, then I'm all for it."

Misty stared at him in wonder. "Anyone ever tell you that you're an incredible friend Ash?"

"Loads of people tell me that Mist." She snorted and swatted his shoulder. "But I think it means the most coming from you."

"Thank you Ash, for everything."

"No problem, but if Gary ever hurts you there is nothing holding me back from killing him." He cracked his knuckles for added effect.

She giggled softly. "I'd imagine he's gotten a few of those warnings, but isn't it a little harsh by your usual standards?"

"Where you're concerned, definitely not. Are you ready to come back down now? It's nearly dinner time."

"Thinking with your stomach still Ash?" she sighed melodramatically.

"Some things never change, right?" He stood up from the bed and offered a hand to help her up.

She accepted his offered hand and allowed him to pull her up. "And then some things really do."

He let out a deep breath, "You can say that again."

"You know, I'm pretty sure that was the longest conversation I've ever had with you that didn't involve either food or Pokemon."

"Shut up Misty." he grumbled as he closed the door behind them.

**-****XXX-**

For the four young adults, the ensuing dinner was…

Well, awkward wasn't the right word but it was the first word that came to mind.

Ash bought Misty downstairs to the mouth-watering smell of Brock's dinner, something that always brought great comfort to them both, reminiscent of their time travelling as children. Gary, for his part, felt incredibly left out of the loop, like everything the other three spoke about was some sort of private joke meant for their ears only, his only comfort the soft smile Misty sent him when she didn't think he was looking.

Absently he pushed his food around the plate, not really wanting to admit that Brock really was a great cook. Had Gary been told a year ago that he'd feel the way he felt about Misty now, and that he'd be having dinner with her, Ash and Brock, he never would have believed it. Even now the idea that he was actually in love with someone was taking a great deal of getting used to, not because the feeling was unwelcome, but because it was so new, so different, so much more of everything than he had ever felt for a woman. Misty elicited so many new feelings in him that he actually felt stunned by how overwhelming it was. Gary was ready to do whatever he could do to keep Misty in his life, but not just yet, his plan would have to wait for now.

"Gary?" Brock's voice shook him out of his reverie.

"Huh?" he answered, not so eloquently.

"You alright over there? We were just discussing your Grandfather's more recent research. What do you know about it?"

"Oh, um, he seems to think he's on the verge of discovering an entirely new species and typing of Pokemon." He took a sip of his water before continuing. "When I was still in Sunyshore City, a lot of my stuff got sent back to Pallet. I was focusing on my own research but we did come across deep ocean dwelling Pokemon that lived at depths most Professors' didn't even believe possible. Gramps has been looking at it."

"What did they look like?" Misty asked, extremely interested.

"Vicious, large, but always blind. In those depths there's no light, they can't see anyway."

"Wow, do you have any pictures? I'd love to see them."

"I could always sneak you into the lab if you're that interested." He winked at her, causing her to giggle.

Brock simply ignored the flirty display, opting to stare at his plate for something to focus on, while Ash just blanched in disbelief. It didn't matter how anyone tried to explain what was going on between the two, he felt he was never going to be able to understand it; it didn't make a lick of sense.

"So, Misty," said Ash a little too loudly, causing Misty and Gary to jump in their seats. "How much time off did the League grant you?"

"They've allowed me three months personal leave, but I might go back sooner."

"What?" exclaimed Gary and Brock in unison.

"Why would you want to go back early?" Brock asked.

"Well, because I'm doing a bit better a lot sooner than I thought I would. I probably won't need all the time they gave me." She reasoned.

"Screw that Red; you should come back with me and Ash to Pallet Town."

Misty dropped her fork to the table with a clatter, paying no attention to the way Ash had paused with his food already mid-way to his mouth. "Wha – Really? Why?"

"Because you could use the holiday, plus I'll make sure you have some fun." He shot her a brilliant smile to which she only smirked and leaned forward.

"Who says I need you to have fun Oak?"

"Well – "

"So Ash, was your mother happy to see you?" Brock cut in as though he weren't interrupting anything in particular.

Ash sighed in relief. Who knew Gary and Misty could be like _that_? "Happy? She as good as tackled me to the floor! Had to get past some weird blond guy though."

"Kevin, you mean?" asked Brock conversationally.

"Oh my – thank you! That was going to drive me crazy otherwise, Kevin was his name! He was an assistant, wasn't he?"

"I thought he was a receptionist or something! Turns out he came back with Gary, was one of his assistants at the lab during the Rocket attack."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. It was on the news everywhere. What was the deal with that Gary?"

Gary had just been staring at the two, eyes narrowed with an eyebrow cocked in annoyance. "It wasn't anything Ashy, so drop it."

"Oh come on! It couldn't possibly be nothing! There were guns and explosions and death, who knew Team Rocket could pull a stunt like that?"

Gary snorted, "You make it sound like an epic action movie. I'd say Team Rocket has changed a little bit over the years. I guess they worked out their old methods just didn't work, but the end goal stayed the same."

"You still getting chased around by Jessie and James in Hoenn?" Brock asked Ash.

"I did see them once in Lilycove City but they didn't try anything. It was really strange actually. You get so used to them doing one thing it just seems weird when they do something different, or nothing at all."

"Are they still with Team Rocket?" asked Misty.

"Didn't seem to be." he replied through a mouthful of food. "They weren't wearing the uniform anymore, and they didn't recite that little poem of theirs. Meowth wasn't even with them."

"Hmm, that's odd." observed Misty, pushing her plate away. "Did you speak to them?"

Ash shook his head. "No. It was just a brief moment of eye contact. There was something so off about them though. They looked…paranoid almost."

"I will bet you anything it had something to do with the 'new and improved' Team Rocket." Gary remarked suddenly, twisting the cutlery between his fingers.

"What makes you say that?" questioned Ash.

Gary took a deep breath, hating to remember Jason and that day in the lab. "When I asked one of the Rockets to battle me, they said that wasn't how they did things anymore. They were ruthless, maniacal, hell, they were downright evil. I wouldn't put it past them to weed weaker, unsuccessful Rockets out, and put more nut jobs in. Your Jessie and James were definitely weaker Rockets. They were probably let go, most likely violently and threatened with death if they spilled so much as a word, and that Meowth was probably killed."

The other three around the table stared at Gary, shocked at what had just come out of his mouth.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you might have a point there." muttered Ash. "Paranoid isn't quite the word I was after; they looked _haunted_."

"They might have been in Hoenn to hide." Brock pointed out, "They could be on the run."

"Maybe, I don't know, I doubt very much they'd talk about it even if we could find them." Ash said noncommittally as Misty stood to clear the table.

"NO!" yelled the three men, standing up in unison, making Misty roll her eyes.

"Sit back down!"

"What are you doing Mist?"

"I'll clear the table for you, just relax!"

"Guys, you can't keep treating me like I'm made of glass! I can carry some plates to the kitchen, you know." Misty huffed as she sat back down and crossed her arms as Brock reached over the table to grab everyone's plate, balancing them precariously as he walked into the kitchen.

"That's not the point Misty," called Brock from his new position by the sink. "You've done more than enough today."

"But I haven't done a damn thing for the past two weeks!" she whined.

"Great, neither should you be doing anything." Brock admonished. "Just let us help you Misty, if this is all we can do to help then that's what we'll do."

Misty smiled at him even though he was turned away. "Thank you Brock."

"No problem, now why don't you go sit down in the living room? Chill out for a little while, OK?"

"Whatever you say Brock." She called back before erupting into a fit of giggles.

Gary leaned over, "What's so funny?" he asked in a volume just above a whisper.

Misty smirked at him, "Want to get that ice cream now? I'm pretty sure there's a place still open near the beach?"

Gary grinned and stood, holding a hand out for her, "Lead the way, Red."

"Hey!" Ash butted in a little loudly, "I want some ice cre – "

"ASH? I could use your help in here!" Brock suddenly yelled from the kitchen.

Grumbling incoherently, Ash grudgingly walked into the kitchen, pausing only to see the retreating backs of Misty and Gary disappear through the front door, their fingers intertwined.

"Why did you do that?" he whined as Brock passed him a dish towel. "Ice cream would have been awesome!"

"Did you really want to be the third wheel on an ice cream date with Gary and Misty?" Brock looked over at him knowingly.

Ash sighed, "I guess not." He relented. "They really are an odd pair." he observed as he wiped a plate.

"But they're a good pair, perfect even. They really balance each other out, plus one will always keep the other in line."

"I remember not so long ago you were telling me the same thing about Misty and me." Ash remarked slyly.

Brock smirked and shook his head. "I wasn't wrong Ash. You and Misty are a perfect match; you're just not a love match. I can see that now."

Ash wandered about the kitchen trying to find homes for different items. "I don't think I'll ever get it Brock, but if Misty's happy then so am I."

"I'm glad you're being so mature about it Ash, I won't lie I was expecting a very different reaction."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I fully intend to have a good, long chat with Gary at some point, and then I'll be completely at peace with everything." He replied with a defiant nod of his head.

"Good. Now, grab a broom and sweep up."

"Hey! I'm not your slave!"

"True, but you did agree with me when I told Misty that we'd help her out." Brock pointed out, smirking slightly. "You don't want to let Misty down, do you?"

Ash groaned, knowing Brock was right. "The things I do for that woman…"

**-XXX-**

They got back from getting their ice cream a lot later than they had expected.

By the time Gary bought her upstairs with a perfectly innocent kiss to Misty's forehead, it was well past midnight. After the ice cream they had just wandered the city, hand in hand, entranced by the way it lit up at night, something Gary had never done with anyone before.

He closed her bedroom door and climbed back down the stairs, wanting a drink of something to rinse his mouth out.

He pulled the door out on the refrigerator just as a hand reached and grabbed Gary by the shoulder, jerking him back suddenly. Turning around to get a better look at his attacker he couldn't say, given the events of the dinner and the day prior, that he was shocked at all by who it was.

"What the fuck Ash? What the hell are you doing?" he demanded as he was roughly shoved back into the living room.

"Shut the hell up and sit down Gary. We are long overdue for a talk."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN: **I wasn't sure whether or not to make this a mammoth chapter or break it in half. When it looked like it was going to be outrageously big I broke it up…at a crucial moment…sorry!

Gave a little nod to one of my favourite (real) authors Chuck Palahniuk. If you can see where and know what book it's from you are awesome!

Ash is probably a little OOC, but I needed him to be more mature so don't bitch!

Reviews people! We're coming to the tail end of this story and we're starting to get to the good bits, the real Egoshippy bits, so review!


	17. Chapter 16: And Then You Came Along

Yay! Another (slightly longer than normal) chapter! At this stage it's looking like another four or five or so chapters plus an epilogue, so we're almost at the end. I'm actually pretty sad to say that, I've had lots of fun writing this so far! Oh well, on we go!

**DISCLAIMER: **No, not now, not ever. Or at least probably not ever. I wouldn't put it past myself to marry my way into ownership…

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 16: 'And Then You Came Along'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

_"What the fuck Ash? What the hell are you doing?" he demanded as he was roughly shoved back into the living room._

_"Shut the hell up and sit down Gary. We are long overdue for a talk."_

**-XXX-**

The low light of the flickering candles in the room did little to hide the expression of annoyance laced with anger, curiosity and determination Ash was throwing Gary's way right now.

"Do we have to do this now Ashy?" he drawled as he narrowed his eyes and sprawled back on the sofa. "It's pretty late in case you hadn't noticed."

"Gary, if this doesn't get done now, it never will." Ash replied as he paced warily in front of his old rival, who he was a little miffed to find just looked unnerved and bored.

Gary stared at his surroundings distractedly, focusing his attentions anywhere but on the young man pacing up a storm in front of him. "Get on with it then Ash, I don't have all night. Plus I'd imagine you're just going to rehash everything Brock has told me over the past few weeks and frankly I'm getting tired of hearing it."

"Not quite." Ash moved closer, holding Gary under an intensely scrutinizing gaze. "Before we talk about whatever the hell it is you're doing with Misty, I think we should sort out our…personal issues."

"And what personal issues are they, Ash?" he exuded an outward calm despite knowing where this conversation would lead them, even though Gary wasn't quite sure he was ready to go there yet.

Ash kept his face impassive. "You don't like me. And I don't like you."

Gary scoffed and shook his head mockingly. "Are you just figuring this out now? They weren't joking when they said you were dense."

"I'd like to know why." Ash drew the sentence out slowly, letting Gary know his intentions, that there was no way the conversation was ending before the truth came out. "I hate you because you go out of your way to insult me whenever you see me, and it doesn't matter what I do, you always find a way to one up me. But what did I ever do to you?"

Gary cocked an eyebrow curiously. "Nothing at all Ashy. Some people just don't get along, that's you and me."

"That I don't believe," Ash contradicted. "I can't believe. We could have been friends Gary; there was no good reason we shouldn't have been. Even now, it'd be easier for Misty if we were. We need to sort this shit out once and for all."

"There is nothing to sort out Ketchum!" Gary hissed. "I have nothing to say on the subject. Save yourself some time and get out of my face." He stood to walk away only to be grabbed round the shoulder by Ash. Gary chuckled darkly. "Let go Ashy boy."

Ash was not about to be bullied into submission. He tightened his grip and stood his ground. "Not until we talk about this Gary! Do you have any idea how many nights I stayed up after seeing you whenever wondering what I'd done to make you hate me so much?"

"I don't care Ketchum – "

"And don't get me started on how you looked when you told me off!" he pressed on, stuck in the heat of the moment. "You hid it well, but you always looked depressed. What am I meant to think when you always looked like you'd burst into tears at the mere sight of me?"

Ash could tell he had struck a nerve. He could feel his stillness, the clenching of Gary's muscles beneath his hand, his breathing becoming labored. They stood like that for a moment, Ash almost scared to say anything more for fear of eliciting a more violent reaction.

"Get the hell off me Ash." Gary breathed lowly, dangerously.

"Not until you tell me why." he replied stubbornly.

"I don't want to get into this."

"Well I do!"

"Please Ash," Gary roughly shook his hand off his shoulder and turned to look at him warningly. "Don't press this."

"What the fuck could be so hard for you to say?" Ash cried passionately. "Is it so terrible? Why are you so determined to –"

"BECAUSE I WAS FUCKING JEALOUS OF YOU, ALRIGHT?"

Ash could only look stunned. Of all the things to come flying from Gary's mouth, he certainly hadn't expected that. "What the hell do you mean by that Oak?" he seethed. "All those years you tried to rub my face in everything. You were and still are a complete and utter asshole to me, taunting me and belittling everything I do. What do I possibly have that pisses you off so much?"

"It's not…" Gary ran his hands through his hair, tugging at the soft strands, hesitant to continue. "It's about when you show up in my life Ash! When we first met, I was five years old, you were four. I'd just moved in with Gramps 'cause my Dad died two weeks earlier."

Ash's eyes bulged; he was not privy to the circumstances of the deaths of Gary's parents.

"You swanned in with your happy little smile," Gary continued, absolutely incensed and beyond reason, "and your nice family, that I actually had to have fucking play dates with, when I had just lost everything! Sure, I had Gramps and May, but neither of them was really _there_! For fucking years now Ash I've resented the shit out of you for having the important things I didn't, and for flaunting them at me when I'm at my lowest. For having a happy, stable family, a mother who loves you, for having friends around that care about you and want you to succeed. I hated you so much for that Ash! So I applied myself to everything I've ever done, I had to be the best! I became the jerk, I taunted you, I shoved any and all accomplishments in your face to prove to you, and myself, that…" he trailed off with a choked sobbing sound. "… that I wasn't fighting tears whenever I saw you and that I could be better than you, that I could deserve the things you had."

Ash sat in shocked silence as Gary fell onto the seat beside him, breathing heavily. "You know I wasn't flaunting it at you, right?" he asked after a time, knowing it wasn't at all the right thing to say, but not knowing what would be otherwise.

Gary let out a deep, exhausted sigh. "Somewhere inside, yes, I know you're not. It's just hard not to see it like that when you're already down. You have the most uncanny ability to show up in my life when I'm down, Ketchum." He closed his eyes and leaned back. "For the life of me, I don't know how you manage it."

The sound of heavy breathing echoed through the room. On one hand, Ash was glad to have the truth out, he was glad to have opened up a part of Gary that he would have kept hidden forever otherwise. On the other hand he felt horrible that it had to be coaxed out like _that_, and almost guilty that that was what had been paining him for so many years. But Ash couldn't help but notice flaws in Gary's logic.

"Ma loves you like a son, you know. She always did." He said quietly, hoping he wasn't about to strike another nerve.

"I know that," he responded slowly, "it took me a while to realise it, but I do know that."

"Professor Oak actually sat her down and explained everything about you being at the lab and about your parents," he looked sideways to see Gary looking horrified, "She didn't tell me anything I swear! But she did try to include you. Those play dates you mentioned was her way of trying to get through to you. I had no idea you felt that way."

"Like I said Ashy, it's hard not to resent the kid who swans in with the happy home life when your own parents are recently dead but no one whose left is in the right frame of mind to help you." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "I appreciate, now, what your mother tried to do for me now that I can stand back and observe it, but at the time it seemed like everyone was trying to…I don't know, rub it in. 'Hey, let's throw the recently orphaned child to the kid who still had a parent' or something like that."

Ash shook his head tiredly. "You know, in some weird, twisted way I can't blame you for thinking like that." He knew he'd make a breakthrough, but they weren't done delving yet. "So, what about my friends Gary? You hated me for them too?"

A strangled growling sort of noise emanated from deep within his chest, "Are you seriously not done playing psychiatrist yet Ketchum?"

"Not quite. Come on Gary, this will help with Misty." he wheedled.

That got his attention, "How so?"

Ash chuckled at how easy Gary's love-addled mind was now, "Imagine how happy she'd be if we could call a truce? Even if it is a shaky one! Plus it's a load off your mind, not having to focus on how much you want me dead." He finished lightly.

Gary sighed tiredly, "True I suppose. And I don't want you dead Ash." He opened one eye and smirked, "severely maimed will do just fine."

"Charming," he replied sarcastically, "But I think I could probably guess about the whole friends' part."

Gary leaned forward and rested his head in his hands, "Then by all means Sensei, impart your infinite wisdom."

"You've never had a friend, have you?"

"No, not unless you like to count people I worked with in the labs."

"You resent me for having so many friends when you never did. The whole lone wolf 'I don't need anyone' mentality you had going on, while quite cool looking with that cape and all, was a cover for how desperately lonely you were, right? And that's why you always looked sad when we saw you."

Gary said nothing, choosing to stare straight ahead at nothing in particular. His brain was swirling, cursing Ash for being so accurate, pissed off that he'd allowed himself to be read so easily, and incredibly fucking angry with himself for allowing that loneliness to continue up until a few months ago.

"Is that why you like Misty so much?" Ash asked slowly. "Because she was my friend first and – "

"That had nothing to do with it at all." Gary spat through gritted teeth. "When I first saw her again I didn't even recognise her as the girl you travelled with. I _love _Misty because she became my best friend; she was the first person aside from May and Gramps to actually care about the real me and not who I became! The first person who showed me that there was more to life than what I was doing with it. The first person who made a real effort to get to know me! That turned out to be all I fucking well wanted! As I kid I talked myself into believing I didn't need friends, I have never been more wrong about anything in my life. Only over the past two years have I realised something was missing from my life, the element of companionship I screwed half the female population of Kanto to try and find, I've been missing it for the better part of seventeen years and then…Misty came along. I have never felt so whole."

"So, what you're doing with Misty isn't some cruel joke to get to me?"

Gary snorted derisively. "Ash, I resented you for many things, among them the fact that you could make friends so easily when I couldn't. It had nothing to do with who you were friends with so no, definitely not."

"And you actually do…love her?" Ash pressed.

"As weird as it may be to hear me say it, yes, I do."

"You know," reflected Ash as he leaned back, "earlier today at the beach, and when you were being so disgustingly flirty at dinner, I hardly recognised you."

"Well, I can tell you right now I haven't done anything different to my hair." Gary deadpanned.

Ash smirked. "Gary, we never have gotten along and with so much water under the bridge we likely never really will, but I do feel like I know you. You, in all the years I've known you, have never genuinely smiled. You smirk, and there is a little smile reserved for your Pokemon, that's about it. With Misty, you actually smile." He shrugged nonchalantly. "It was like looking at an entirely different person."

Gary was caught somewhere between a scowl and a small grin. "Spill to anyone Ketchum and you'll live to regret it."

"What? I think everyone will love the new and improved Gary!"

"Ugh, I need a drink." Gary heaved himself off the sofa and went back to the fridge, feeling Ash hover around him for a different reason this time. He plucked a long-necked bottle off the shelf and eyed it curiously. "Misty drinks beer?" he asked Ash over his shoulder.

Ash took the bottle and inspected the label. "No, this is Brock's, he must have stocked the fridge while he was staying here." He popped the lid off and took a long gulp. "I won't tell if you won't?"

Gary raised an eyebrow as he looked on. "Well well, Ashy boy has a reckless streak."

Ash smirked. "I won't tell if you won't." he repeated as he took another lingering sip.

"No one would care anyway." Gary pulled his own beer off the shelf, and sat down at the dining room table.

"Does this mean we have a truce?"

In spite of himself, Gary smirked. "The best I can give you is a begrudging indifference. My opinion of you won't change overnight. My jealously may be misplaced, but that doesn't change the fact that you, Ash Ketchum, are a giant tool."

"Hey! That's Uncle Ash to you!"

It took every inch of Gary's self-control to keep from decking him right then and there as Ash just sat there and laughed raucously at the way his face was twitching in barely contained anger. "You were so close there for a moment Ash." He let out slowly, taking a deep swig of beer to calm down.

They never saw the red headed figure watching them from a crouched position on the stairs…

**-XXX-**

Misty wasn't quite asleep yet. She occupied that strange twilight state where she was alert, but unaware. Even so, she was jolted out of that state by the sound two of the three most important males in her life fighting. Granted, it was little more than a furious series of barely hushed whispers, but the culmination of these whispers had her sitting bolt upright in her bed as she listened to Gary's loud, strangled, startling admission;

"_BECAUSE I WAS FUCKING JEALOUS OF YOU, ALRIGHT?"_

As a child travelling with Ash, it was difficult not to hate Gary, or at the very least to have your doubts about the guy. His character was constantly called into question and deconstructed, but never understood. His motives for his relentless teasing of Ash were never known. Misty had been a bystander throughout most of it, watching carefully, maybe even throwing in a jibe or two herself every now and then, but in the end it was Ash's fight. She and Brock had no bloody idea who Gary was and even though he was an ass to their common best friend, what did they know, really? Nothing! Neither of them knew a damn thing! All they could do was watch, and agree with Ash and his theories afterwards.

What Gary had just yelled out…it actually made a lot of sense.

Quietly, Misty threw back the blankets and climbed out of bed, crouching at the top of the staircase. She couldn't see the figures of Ash or Gary from her position, but she could hear them clearly now.

"…_For fucking years now Ash I've resented the shit out of you for having the important things I didn't, and for flaunting them at me when I'm a__t my lowest…"_

It wasn't until rather late into her time with Ash that the subject of Gary Oak being an orphan and their incredibly intertwined childhoods surfaced for the first time. One fateful day after another thorough taunting by Gary, Misty had taken it upon herself to comfort Ash, her crush on him in full force at that point. He was in an uncommonly bad way after Gary left, throwing things, yelling, angrier than Misty could ever remember seeing him. She managed to sit him down and asked him to start at the _very_ beginning, having to know where the intimate animosity between them originated, and she was surprised at what she heard. Ash and Gary had known each other since they were little more than toddlers, Gary's parents were dead though Ash didn't know the details, a vicious rivalry between the two ensued and carried on until now, though the seeming pettiness of Gary's responses and teasing had become worse over the years. Misty always had to bite her tongue to keep from mentioning how sad Gary looked every time he locked eyes on Ash for fear Ash would think she was taking sides and become angrier. She hadn't banked on Ash being observant enough to work that out for himself.

Maybe to Gary, the way he acted towards Ash wasn't petty at all, and of course there had to be something to explain why Gary looked upset all the time. After all, there was no way anyone would act like that to anyone else without a good reason, right?

"…_I became the jerk, I taunted you, I shoved any and all accomplishments in your face to prove to you, and myself, that…that I wasn't fighting tears whenever I saw you and that I could be better than you, that I could deserve the things you had."_

A truth that Brock actually did bring up to Misty one night. Neither brought it up with Ash for fear of his reactions, which were erratic at best when it came to Gary Oak. Brock was the most in tune with the feelings of others, and had picked up on Gary overcompensating for something from their very first encounter. Gary had progressed somewhat faster than Ash from the very outset of their journeys and as such, he had challenged Brock at the Pewter City Gym first.

Brock had claimed, as Misty would later see for herself, that Gary had swaggered into the Gym with a gaggle of females behind him, boastfully claiming that he was the greatest trainer who ever lived, who didn't need any help achieving his goals, who could do whatever he damn well pleased without the hassle of friends weighing him down. Brock was used to the overconfident posturing of new trainers and didn't pay it much mind, thinking the way he behaved was something reserved for the Gyms and that he'd probably be an OK guy in the real world. It wasn't until after meeting Ash and Misty and deciding to leave the Gym that he saw Gary again, acting much the same as he did before, only with the addition of just barely glassy eyes.

It was Brock's theory from many years ago that Gary's bravado was solely for Ash's benefit, a defense mechanism to deal with whatever problems Gary had with him. Neither could be sure exactly what those problems were at the time. For Misty to hear Gary make the admission now was startlingly heartbreaking. He was jealous of what Ash had, behaved the way he did to push Ash away and pretend it wasn't harder than any battle to even see him. She could understand why Gary had passed off her earlier questions on the subject as 'embarrassing'.

"_So, what about my friends Gary? You hated me for them too?"_

Misty sat completely still on the first steps. Given the previous admission this one was easier for her to piece together. Throughout every encounter they had had with Gary, they had never once seen him with a friend, those bimbo cheerleaders notwithstanding. Ash, on the other hand, had an ever rotating roster of friends. For Gary, someone who clearly had trouble interacting with others and didn't make friends easily, of course seeing the person he had made his personal mission to better in every possible way with different friends as often as he did would hurt, especially when he honestly believed he'd never get the better of him in that regard.

Misty had never felt such unabashed sympathy for another person in all her life. Her and Gary becoming friends in the first place would have been a huge deal for him, yet he played it off so cool, insisting it was an ideal situation for both of them, a friendship of convenience. He really was a brilliant actor.

Her thoughts were going a mile a minute; piecing together all other aspects of his life adding up to the person he was now. Making the transition into adulthood, Gary's change from trainer to researcher seemed to be the first conscious decision made for his own benefit. Training wasn't where his heart truly lied, and was probably little more than an ill made decision to best Ash again. He took the position on the Sayda Island lab and for a time, he was happy.

Upon hitting his late teens, receiving grants to start his own research in his own lab and becoming rather famous in the scientific circles, Gary began his foray into the rather debauched sexually charged existence he had been leading as recently as six months ago, making him rather famous in far less reputable circles. Gary had admitted to her when they first became friends why he slept around as he did, an attempt to fill a void in his life, but the issue there no longer plagued him, or so he claimed.

The atmosphere downstairs had cooled somewhat. Gary's responses to Ash's questioning were still scathing in tone, but his words were honest and heartfelt.

"…_I _love_ Misty because she became my best friend; she was the first person aside from May and Gramps to actually care about the real me and not who I became! The first person who showed me that there was more to life than what I was doing with it. The first person who made a real effort to get to know me!__"_

Misty's heart skipped a beat upon hearing those words. She felt like she had come to know Gary quite well over the past few months of their acquaintance, but it seemed she had severely underestimated the effect she had on him. She had underestimated the effect he had on her too. In their few months of friendship his presence was something that had become so deeply ingrained within her, something she had come to rely on and something that annoyed her to no end if she had to go without. She froze with the realisation that she actually needed him like air, he was her other half. Misty had never felt like she was the sort of person to make outrageously sugary admissions of need and want about anyone else, much less a man but he actually kind of did complete her. And he felt the same way. She was OK with that. Better than OK. In fact, she was downright ecstatic!

"…_You, in all the years I've known you, have never genuinely smiled. You smirk, and there is a little smile reserved for your Pokemon, that's about it. With Misty, you actually smile. It was like looking at an entirely different person."_

If Misty's heart had leapt at the previous statement, it was doing frickin' cartwheels at the next. It filled her with a giddy sense of glee to know that she was bringing out a softer side of Gary with just her mere presence. She leaned her head on the railing of the stairs and let out a silent sigh. It was a huge step forward for Gary to be admitting these things to Ash, but the part of her that was in love with the guy wanted him to tell her these things face to face so she wouldn't have to feel like such a moron by eavesdropping.

She heard the fridge door open, meaning they had moved from their previous position and she could no longer hear their conversation. She heard the fizzing pop of one of Brock's beers being opened, followed by another, and the sound of the dining table chairs being scraped along the floor followed shortly by an almost deafening roar of laughter that had Brock poking his head out of the room he was occupying.

"Misty?" he called groggily, "what are you doing sitting on the stairs like that?"

"Couldn't sleep, they woke me up." She whispered back.

"I'd almost forgotten how loud Ash can be." Brock yawned. "Want me to go down and get them to shut up?"

Misty shook her head, giggling slightly at the sweet offer. "I think it's out of their systems anyway. Go back to sleep Brock."

He nodded slowly to agree with her, pulling back before poking back out as though he remembered something. "How was the ice cream?" he asked as suggestively as he could given his sleep deprived state.

A slow smile spread across Misty's lips. "It was great." She replied simply, not wanting to divulge any further on the matter.

Brock raised an eyebrow but ultimately decided not to press any further. "Good night, Misty."

She stood up and stretched, careful not to make too much noise. "Night Brock." She turned back to her own bedroom as Brock closed his door.

Padding softly across the room she fell back into her bed, an odd assortment of emotions coursing through her veins, none of which she wanted to examine at any great length at the moment. At any rate, it was probably time for a conversation with Gary about…well, everything. His words downstairs as well as his great many previous actions left little doubt in her mind that he felt something for her, love by his own admission, and she wanted, no, _needed_ to tell him the same. Sighing to herself, and with a little smile on her face, Misty finally drifted off to sleep, her mind concocting all manner of pleasant dreams to lose herself in.

**-XXX-**

"Come on Red! You know that even if you say no I'll drag you anyway, right?"

Earlier that morning Brock had left, needing to return home to see to some things. Ash was preparing to leave to go back to Pallet Town and Gary felt that he should probably head home as well seeing as how he never told anyone he'd be staying in Cerulean City to begin with, though he knew most of them would have had the foresight to guess. That, however, left them with the issue of Misty being left at the Gym. Alone.

"Gary!" she whined from her position across the table, "Why do I need to go with you? Can't I just stay here? There's no reason for me to go anyway!"

"Red, I marvel at the progress you've made with everything as much as the next person," he spoke through a mouth of cereal, "but you have two months and three weeks of holidays and I intend to see that you spend it right!"

Misty's eyes took on a playful glint. "And pray tell, what is there for me to do in Pallet Town?"

"Well, me for one." He replied without skipping a beat and winked, laughing at her blushing face. "But seriously, it's really a very relaxing place. You could help out with the Pokemon at the ranch; drown yourself in tea with Delia, whatever you want! There's a lake behind the ranch that has some good Pokemon in it, you could go fishing?"

"And where would I stay?"

Gary rolled his eyes. "That Mansion has near on twenty rooms. I'm sure we can find some space to fit you."

Misty snorted, "A space close to yours, I'm sure."

"Am I that transparent Red?"

"Just a lucky guess, really." She smirked.

"Well, if you really want to know for sure, you better pack a bag."

"A bag?" she stared at him blankly, "_A bag?_ You offer to let me stay with you for two and a half months and you think one bag will do the trick? Oh no, at least two suitcases, Gary!"

He looked at her in disbelief. "What on earth could you possibly need? We have a washing machine, just bring a couple of outfits, we have everything else. How the hell did you get by on the road for years at a time with a tiny backpack if it bugs you so much?"

Misty huffed and crossed her arms. "It pissed me off, but everyone thought I didn't care since I was 'one of the guys' or something, couldn't speak out against the lack of a regular shower either. But either way, I need to bring…um… - "

Gary pushed back from the table and took his empty bowl to the sink. "Exactly, nothing. Now go, or I'll do it for you and I don't think you'd appreciate the outfits I'd pack for you!"

She held up her hands in defeat. "Fine, fine, I'll go pack. Geez…" she pushed back her seat roughly sending a loud scraping noise throughout the house and made her way up the stairs.

"I hear there's a good shopping mall in Viridian City, if you forget anything we can just go there, OK? So don't worry!" he called up the stairs after her, only getting a noncommittal, and decidedly unladylike, grunt in response. Chuckling after her, he filled the sink with hot, bubbly water (momentarily fantasizing about the far more entertaining things one or two could do with a bigger tub full of hot bubbly water and a few other items) and proceeded to clean the living room and kitchen.

Half an hour later Misty reappeared at the foot of the stairs, a largish bag under her arm, looking momentarily panic-stricken. "What do I do with my Pokemon? I can't just leave them here!"

Gary looked up from doing the dishes, his last task. "Leave them with Nurse Joy." He replied simply.

"For two and a half months?" she deadpanned. "I don't think she'd appreciate that."

"Bring them with you then. I told you about the lake, and it's not like there isn't room at the ranch for them anyway."

"I suppose I could bring them along.' She mused quietly. "Hey, where's Ash?"

"He left about five minutes ago. He wanted to say goodbye but I told him I was bringing you back with me. I'm surprised he didn't try to ride shotgun with us and protect you from me." He smirked.

Misty was fairly certain Ash deciding to leave them alone had everything to do with the talk he had with Gary the night before but knew she shouldn't reveal that she had in fact heard the vast majority of that conversation.

"I guess he listened to me when he decided to interrogate me about you."

"He interrogated you, did he?" Gary gave a knowing smile. "And just what did you tell young Ash about me?"

"Oh, this and that." She replied airily, her evasiveness making him laugh. "When do you want to leave?" she asked as she moved to lean against the bench, her presence proving to be quite the distraction for him. Dressed simply in a pair of dark blue cotton shorts that fell to mid-thigh and a simple white t-shirt, shining copper hair up in a simple pony tail, he still found her beauty to be breathtaking.

"I'm good to go whenever you are, I can take your bag to the car if you want?" he offered.

She shook her head. "Thanks, but it's not that heavy."

"Aww come on! How else am I meant to be the chivalrous sort if you won't let me take your bag?"

Sighing, she handed it over and followed him out to the car. "Couldn't have you thinking anything less about yourself now could I?" she joked lightly as he placed her bag in the waiting car. She thanked Arceus he had pulled the top onto the car; she didn't want to be sitting in a convertible without the top on for the entire journey.

"It would just confuse people if I thought any less of myself." He turned to grin at her as he closed the car door. "Is that everything you need?" he asked.

"Says the guy who told me to only pack a small bag! 'We'll take you to the mall if you need something else' he said!"

"Hey, I was just making sure, no need to bite me…not just yet, anyway!" he retorted suggestively, wriggling his eyebrows for added effect.

"Are you always like this?" she asked in mock exasperation, the smile on her face a dead giveaway.

"You should surely know the answer to that by now Red." He leaned back against the hood of the car. Even with just a plain pair of jeans and a black t-shirt on, Misty couldn't help but stare at the picture he was making; he really was devastatingly handsome.

"See something you like, Red?" his voice jolted her out of her little reverie. She was shocked that her line of sight had strayed rather low and that her mind was filled with all manner of deliciously naughty thoughts. Thoroughly flustered and bright red she looked up to see Gary smirking at her, trying to bite back laughter.

"I…I, um…I…"

"You're checking me out, aren't you?" he slowly walked closer, a sly edge to his voice. "That's fine, check me out all you want." He stopped right in front of her, almost flush against her front. Her breath hitched when he leaned in to her ear, his hot breath tickling the sensitive skin. She closed her eyes and bit back a whimper at his closeness but lack of touch. "It just makes us even, after all." Without even waiting for a response, he pulled back and walked back into the Gym, leaving Misty feeling all round annoyed at his teasing in his wake.

She stood there for a moment before realising that she was just staring at the hood of the car where Gary had been. Shaking some sense into herself, she ran back into the Gym after him, finding him leaning on the bench, examining his fingernails. She took in the polished, sparkling clean bench tops and sink, the vacuumed floors, the all-round tidiness and order of the place.

"If that's all that needs to be done Red, we can go now, yeah?" he asked nonchalantly as though nothing had happened before.

She eyed him warily, wondering what he had up his sleeve for her. "Yeah, I think so. I'll do a quick sweep of everything and we can go, OK?" She ducked off through the halls to the Gym area, checking that the pumps had been turned off, that there was no equipment lying around, there were no random Pokemon still floating in the pools. When everything seemed in order, she came back to where Gary was still standing looking distant and bored. "Everything seems to be fine Gary, we can go now." She waved a hand in front of his face when she got no response, surprised when he grabbed her hand and led her out the door, laughing softly to himself. He opened the car door her her, she looked back at him, smirking.

"You're certainly taking the chivalry thing seriously." She teased.

"I always give a hundred and ten percent Red, something you'll come to appreciate." He winked at her as he closed the door, leaving her for a few seconds to wonder why his was being so flirty today of all days. The driver's side door opened and he slipped inside.

As they headed towards the outskirts of Cerulean City neither had said a word. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence by any stretch; it was just a little strange.

"Do you want to play a game?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked after a while.

"How about I Spy?" she suggested.

He laughed, "No, that game is terrible. Plus in a car anything you spy is gone within seconds, there's no way to win."

"OK, how about 'favourites'?"

"'Favourites'? What are we Red, twelve?"

"Hey, it's better than I Spy, plus we can get to know each other a little better."

That seemed to sway him. She remembered him saying to Ash the night before that he appreciated the fact that she made an effort to get to know him. "Fine. You want to start?"

"OK…favourite Pokemon?"

He turned to look at her briefly. "Red, you might as well ask a mother to pick a favourite child. Can't be done."

She rolled her eyes at his response. "It doesn't have to be one of yours! How about Pokemon you'd kill to own then?"

He thought for a moment. "A Dragonite. Since I was a kid, I've always wanted a Dragonite. You?"

"A Milotic." She replied immediately. "Cannot for the life of me catch a Feebas, though."

"Of course, the beautiful water type trainer wants the beautiful water type Pokemon. My turn…favourite food?"

"Avocadoes. If I could live off them I would. You?"

"Individual item, mustard. Sounds weird but I have it on everything. Unholy mass of food items, pizza, but only if I make it."

"You cook pizza?" she asked, surprised.

He smirked but kept his eyes firmly on the road. "I made you those pancakes, remember? It's no great shock that I can make other things, is it? Your turn."

"Favourite colour?"

"As if you need to ask, _Red._ You?"

"Turquoise since I could never choose between blue and green. Ask another!"

"Red, this game is getting kind of annoying."

"Gary, it's a solid few hour's drive to Pallet and you've barely driven for an hour. What else do you want to do to pass the time?"

He hesitated before answering, seeming to struggle inwardly with what he wanted to say. "Can I ask you a pretty personal question Red? Something I've wanted to ask for a while now but the timing never seemed right."

She was intrigued. "What do you want to know?"

His mouth flapped open and shut as he tried to ask the question as delicately as he could. "…what happened to your parents?" he blurted out suddenly. "Or rather where are they? You've never spoken about them."

Misty's eyes flew open in surprise, not expecting that question. "I don't know." She replied honestly.

"Did you know them?"

"Yes, they kind of disappeared when I was around five or six. Daisy was about fourteen or fifteen at the time so she cared for us as best she could but our parents…I'm pretty sure they're a closed missing person's case now, they've been gone for close to twenty years and no one was able to find them."

"So your parents could well still be out there somewhere?"

"I suppose it's possible, but why would I want to find them? Who walks out on four daughters with no other immediate family tethered to a Gym but never comes back? It's sick!" her voice steadily rose with long suppressed emotion on the subject, and tears burnt the back of her eyes; not even Ash had bought it up when they were together.

Gary pulled the car over onto the verge and turned it off. He got out and came around to Misty's passenger seat, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Don't cry over them Red, they don't deserve your tears." He whispered into her hair.

"I don't know why I let them get to me like this! I barely think of them and…" her tears began to fall freely, which she loathed to admit pissed her off greatly. _Like I haven't cried enough the past two weeks._

"It's OK Red; I resented my parents for dying for years. I guess we're in a similar boat, though I know what happened to my parents. I can't imagine what it's like to know nothing at all."

Misty pulled back, startled. Was he really going to tell her this? "Gary, you don't have to – "

"No, I think I should. Hell, I opened the subject up; you told me about yours, so I'll tell you about mine." He took a deep breath, giving her the impression that he didn't much like talking about his parents. "My mother died a little after I turned five. She had ovarian cancer that wasn't detected until it was too late. My father died a few months after. He left me and May in Pallet Town with Gramps, said he needed to sort some stuff out but never came back. He was fished out of the river at the base of Mt Mortar in Johto a week later. Coroner couldn't find anything wrong with him, didn't even think he'd drowned. Everyone who knows the story reckon he died of a broken heart. Apparently Mum and Dad were a bit of a 'Romeo and Juliet' couple in their day, Dad was absolutely heartbroken when she died."

Misty looked at him in awe before leaning in to wrap her arms around him again, feeling his grip tighten around her immediately. He exhaled deeply, almost shakily. After several moments simply wrapped up in each other's comfort, they each pulled away. Gary's hands slid down her arms to take hers.

She gave a shaky little laugh. "Who knew we'd go depressing ourselves like that, huh?"

Smiling softly, he let go of one hand to gently wipe away her tears. His fingers trailed down to trace the soft skin of her damp cheeks, down along her jaw, before leaning in to place a soft, lingering kiss on the corner of her lips.

"Thank you Misty." he whispered before picking himself up and heading back to the driver's seat. When they started driving again, Gary turned to her briefly. "Go to sleep Red, it's a long drive, I'll wake you when we get there."

She nodded obligingly, curling into the surprisingly comfortable car seat. The whole moment earlier seemed surreal to her. He was so gentle and sweet in his actions, but one thing about what he'd done really stood out in her mind.

_He called me Misty for once._

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN:** And another one down! I'm pretty pleased with this chapter; I do hope you liked it too :)

In case someone goes and checks, take my word for it; Gary has never directly called Misty by her name, he only ever calls her Red when they're together. When he's talking about her to others he calls her Misty, though,

It might be a while between updates over the last few chapters, but I'll try very hard not to make you wait more than 10 days. I'm going to _a lot _of concerts in March, including a festival this Monday, another on the 7th, and again on the 9th, then on the 23rd and 24th.

Reviews make me happy! And when I'm happy I write! And when I write you're happy! See? It's a big, infinite happy loop! Keep it going by leaving reviews!


	18. Chapter 17: So Here We Are

Hello everyone, I'm very sorry for the wait, this was far more than the 10 days I promised! This chapter was kind of rushed in the days between my concerts where I was feeling tired, sore and thoroughly metal (ROCK THE FUCK ON!) and then I went and caught a cold and then my dog decided to be a jerk and run away (it's all good, we found him again) and then I got ahead of myself and worked on the next chapter instead, so I apologise profusely if it's a bit sloppy! But it is nice and long (that's what she said)! Honestly, this chapter is mostly filler to get it to the point I need it at, but I don't think anyone is going to argue with some fluffy egoshipping moments since, for an egoshipping romance story, the story has been rather lacking in that department!

Another shout out to Charityx. Writers block set in about 1000 words into this chapter (this chapter kind of kicked my arse!) and she was incredibly helpful suggesting some ideas! Go read her stories and leave her some reviews, she surely does deserve it :)

**DISCLAIMER: **If I was gifted the Pokemon franchise, I honestly don't believe I'd do much other than tweak the anime so that Misty would feature far more than in a single flashback sequence. I think the knowledge that I held it in my hot little hand would be quite enough for me but alas, we will never know, will we? I own nothing, but I didn't need to tell _you_ that, right?

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 17: 'So Here We Are'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

"Hey Red, we're here. You can wake up now."

A soft voice in her ear and a gentle hand rocking her shoulder pulled Misty from a surprisingly deep sleep. Feeling a cool breeze dance across her skin she gradually opened her eyes, finding the door open and Gary kneeling in front of her. Taking her hand and interlacing their fingers, he stood up and helped her from the car, keeping her steady as she stumbled on limbs that were still half asleep. Looking at the Mansion she gasped; it wouldn't matter how many timed she laid eyes on the building, its sheer grandeur and opulence would always take her breath away.

Beside her, Gary snorted. "It's not that impressive Red."

"Says the guy who lived here pretty well all his life." She retorted before sighing wistfully. "It really is beautiful."

"Well," he started as he led her to the door, considering the 'not as beautiful as you' cliché but thinking the better of it "consider it your home for the next couple of months." He turned to look at her with an odd smile playing on his lips. "I'm glad you decided to come, Red."

Misty squeezed his hand affectionately and smiled back, "Me too. I think this could be…exactly what I needed."

"You know what Red? I'm thinking the exact same thing." He dropped Misty's bag to his side and extended his now free hand to knock on the large door before them.

She glanced at him curiously. "Gary, this is your home; why do you knock on the door? You're always welcome here."

He shrugged. "It hasn't been my home in a long time; I've only been back living here for a few weeks. Old habits die hard, I guess."

Moments later the door was opened by a sandy blond-haired teenager Misty didn't recognise. The look on the teens' face shifted from benign curiosity as to who was on the other side of the door, to a huge smile on seeing Gary, to a knowing smirk upon seeing Misty.

Ignoring Gary, the teen extended his right hand to Misty and smirked again, knowing full well Misty would have to drop Gary's hand to reciprocate the gesture. Inwardly he laughed at the tormented looks on both Gary and Misty's faces as they stared at the outstretched hand, apparently neither willing to let go of the other. "You must be Misty Waterflower. I'm Kevin, a friend of Gary's and a lab assistant here."

Since Gary had returned home with Kevin in tow, the two men became good friends, Kevin often serving as a non-judgmental confidant for all things Misty related. He offered another neutral point of view, something Gary greatly appreciated when the only people he had to talk to regarding Misty were all incredibly close to her; she was the sister/daughter/niece/whatever that everyone never had. None were able to view the situation between them objectively as an outsider looking in. Kevin turned out to be worldly beyond his eighteen years, offering sage advice that helped Gary muddle through his thoughts and problems very concisely. This understanding between them meant nothing as Gary glared menacingly at him, lamenting the loss of contact as Misty reluctantly let his hand go to meet Kevin's.

Misty giggled airily as Kevin brought her hand to his lips, placing a light kiss on her knuckles, all the while watching Gary's face contort comically in rage and annoyance. "Nice to meet you, Kevin. I suppose I'm famous here then?"

"Oh yes, I've heard _a lot_ about you. I must offer my condolences though; Gary did mention a friend of yours had recently passed away?"

Misty smiled sadly. "Thank you, and yes, we had her funeral two days ago. I am feeling better though, I know she wouldn't want me secluding myself and crying."

Kevin looked back sympathetically. "I'm sure she would be happy to hear that – "

"OK Kevin, ease up for a moment, would you?" Gary all but growled, curling a possessive arm around Misty's waist.

Kevin drew back, his lips curling upwards, letting go of Misty's hand. "I was only offering my apologies to your friend Gary, no need to get upset about it." He replied before stepping aside to let the pair into the house. "We were expecting you back yesterday. Where _did_ you get off to?"

"A friend wouldn't ask and a gentleman wouldn't tell." Gary replied smoothly, bringing a hand down a little too firmly on Kevin's shoulder, a hint to shut up now or face the consequences later. Misty pulled herself from Gary's gentle hold and explored her new surroundings, not hearing the exchange between the men.

Kevin simply laughed quietly. "You tell me everything that goes on with you and this woman. No need to imply what may or may not have happened when I can already guess."

"I just think it's a little presumptuous of you to assume things may have happened when they did not." Gary defended, his eyes not leaving Misty. He felt a blush rise to his cheeks when he noticed she was closely inspecting one of his baby photos on the wall.

"You know," Kevin observed after a few moments of Gary simply staring, "it's one thing to hear you talk about her; watching you with her is something else entirely." When Gary simply rolled his eyes at him Kevin began to laugh. "You told me yourself that Brock guy told you the same thing!"

"_Everyone_ seems to be telling me the same thing." Gary replied, smirking slightly. "I know that I'm incredibly obvious when it comes to her. Once that would have pissed me off but now…weirdly enough I'm perfectly fine with it."

"I think that's a clue Gary."

"One of many."

"Don't fuck this up."

Gary shook his head and let out a short bark of laughter. "I have lost count of how many people have said that to me. I'm still shocked all her friends are cool with the idea of me and her."

"None of them can argue with that look in your eye. Or the look in hers for that matter."

He turned to face the teen, confused. "The look in her eye?"

Kevin rolled his eyes, "Yes, she looks at you in a similar way, happy now?"

Gary sighed deeply. "When Brock told me Misty had feelings for me I had so much trouble believing it. I couldn't think of a good reason why she'd want someone like me."

"Well, I think that will remain a mystery until you get the balls to ask her. The way you describe her, she's the perfect foil to your personality, she'll always keep you in line. If I got to know her a little better I think I could say the same in regards to you, but the sealer is the way you two look at each other, even I can tell you're perfect for each other."

Gary threw his head back and groaned. "Arceus, you are sappy! I don't think it was your previous employers who shoved these sickly sweet notions of romance down your throat; where did it come from?"

"What, I can't be a romantic? And you know full well you look at her like there's no one else in the room, and so does everyone else apparently. Hell, even now you're only half paying attention to what I'm saying."

"Hmm, maybe being so obvious does annoy me."

"You know you love it." At that moment Misty sauntered back over. "I'll go find your Grandfather." Kevin bought Misty's hand back to his lips briefly causing her to giggle once more at his formality. "It was lovely to meet you Misty. I hope we can get to know each other a little better while you're here."

"It was nice to meet you too, and I hope so." She replied, smiling brilliantly.

As Kevin disappeared down the hall, Misty turned to face Gary. "You know, you don't need to try and shoot lasers after him."

"What?" Gary jerked back suddenly.

"Your friend, you don't need to look as though you're trying to kill him."

"What are you on about, Red?"

Misty gestured a hand towards Kevin's quickly retreating form. "You were staring at him with murder in your eyes! Like the kid wronged you in some way! You were doing it when he first opened the door and said 'hello' too."

"Do you want to see your room?" Gary asked, deftly changing the subject.

Misty raised a single eyebrow at the change of topic but didn't say anything. "Alright, lead the way."

Again Gary took her hand and led her up the staircase, both feeling the jolt of electricity at the contact that was becoming more and more common. Misty had never been privy to the actual Mansion having only spent any extended period of time in the adjoining labs. She was suitably blown away by the long, sweeping hallways, the high ceilings with extravagant chandeliers, everything about the Oak Mansion was made and styled to impress, and impress it did. They stopped in front of a door that looked no different to any of the others. "Mine or yours?" she asked dryly.

Gary looked down at her and smirked. "Actually, it's Ash's. He's hanging around for a few days before heading back, thought you might want to know in case you wanted to chat with him later." He pointed a finger at a door across the hallway and a little further down. "That one is mine."

"Do I get to have a look inside?" she asked, smirk coming through in her voice as they walked towards it.

"Do you want to?" he asked curiously, noting that the old Gary wouldn't even be questioning or second guessing a woman wanting to be in his bedroom.

"Yeah, I'd love to see where the great Gary Oak sleeps and dreams."

He chuckled quietly, "I think you'll be disappointed Red." He extended a hand to open the door and threw it open.

Misty couldn't hold back a gasp as she stepped over the threshold. "You could have mentioned it was your _childhood _bedroom!" The walls were littered with various Pokemon posters, the Gym badges from his trainer days were proudly displayed in cases on the walls along with other trophies for various other accomplishments, photos of his family stood on a shelf on the wall that also held a multitude of Pokemon plush toys. The only indications that an adult dwelled in this space the king size bed fitted with black silky linen and the desk in the corner covered with his research papers and notebooks.

Beside her Gary shrugged. "It reminded me of better times, never had the heart to change it or throw anything away."

She ventured further in, looking at the pictures on the walls, noting with some degree of happiness that he had the same picture of them in front of the lab that she had back home. "No, I like it! Makes you seem…I don't know, human, I guess." She turned and looked at him with a soft smile on her face. "Just another layer of Gary Oak to uncover."

"And just how many layers of Gary Oak have you uncovered so far?" he asked lazily, taking a step forward with each word until the back of Misty's legs hit the edge of the bed and she sat down. He stood right in front of her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well," she began, staring into his sparkling green eyes to distract herself from the very well-toned torso in front of her, not really knowing the eyes would be just as detrimental to her outwardly cool demeanour. "There's the womanizer – "

"That isn't me, Red." The slightest hint of his rarely seen temper crept into his voice.

"But it was you. You may never have resorted to outright trickery to get women into your bed – "

"Not this bed!" Gary cried.

"But that doesn't change the fact that _that_ was once part of your life. Whether you like it or not, it is one of your many layers." At his pouting expression she nudged his leg, at which he took another step forward until their knees were brushing together. "Then there's the outrageously confident and arrogant side of you which in many ways I completely understand given your job and social life and really you wouldn't be Gary Oak if you weren't like that. If I'm being totally honest," her face betrayed the slightest hint of a smirk, "I actually find it pretty damn sexy." Looking up she was surprised to see an oddly strangled look on his face.

"Don't go there Red."

"Don't go where? I figure I'm doing a lot of ego stroking right now, I thought you'd enjoy it."

"Red, you have no idea how much I enjoy you telling me you find aspects of me sexy; if anything, I love it, but I already told you, we aren't going to go down that path yet."

In a decidedly un-Misty move, she pouted. "Fine, we won't go there." She bought her legs up to sit cross-legged on the bed. "There's also Gary Oak, the awesome friend who definitely knows his way around a batch of pancakes. A layer I've had the pleasure of exploring for a while now, though the pancakes not nearly often enough."

Gary chuckled and sat down next to her. "Angel cakes, remember?"

"Oh, I remember! Those pancakes haunt my waking moments Gary, how dare you make them for me only once?"

"Well, you're here now. I'm sure there'll be many an opportunity to cook breakfast for you again Red."

"And then there's Gary Oak, incredibly sweet, caring and generous." She reached out a hand to rest on his knee. "One of my favourite layers, I must say. You have most certainly seen me at my worst Gary, and yet you stuck around; I don't think I could ever thank you enough."

Gary gave a small smile and placed his hand over hers, his fingers tracing lazy circles on the soft skin. "It's nothing Red."

"But that's just it, it's not nothing." Misty insisted as she watched his hand on hers, almost mesmerised by the subtle movements. "Gary, I don't think you understand just how much everything you've done means to me. I gave you every reason to leave and to stay away, but you didn't. Nobody would have held it against you if you decided I was just some stubborn, temperamental crazy person and just disappeared without so much as a word."

He laughed again. "Red, you _are_ a stubborn, temperamental crazy person and honestly, it's one of the reasons I keep coming back." At her incredulous expression he snorted, "What can I say, you're adorable when you're angry or fighting a moot point."

She rolled her eyes and drew a deep breath. "I'll try to decide whether that's a compliment or not later, but that does bring me to the most interesting of your many layers."

"And pray tell Red, what is this fascinating final layer?"

Her expression softened to a look he hadn't seen on her face since his ill-fated first confession of his feelings for her. "And then there's Gary Oak, the man in love." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his in the softest, most fluttering of kisses, noting with satisfaction the way his breath hitched in his throat, before leaning to whisper into his ear. "And I very much look forward to exploring that layer when we're ready." Before he could react, she left the room and walked back out into the hall.

**-XXX-**

_Shit._

_That wasn't quite what I had in mind._

Misty couldn't get down the stairs fast enough. That wasn't supposed to happen! Not yet anyway! Gary was right each time he adamantly claimed she wasn't ready to go down that road with him yet, so why would she let the conversation go that way to begin with? And why the fuck did she go and decide to punctuate the moment with a kiss?

She wasn't embarrassed by what happened, she supposed. What had been said needed to be said, she had just been hoping she might be in a slightly better emotional place when the time came to say it. There was something about Gary that seemed to need reassurance when they were together. She guessed that stemmed from his lonely childhood, and there was no way in hell she could resist it. If there was something, anything she could give him to make him feel at ease with their relationship (if she could call it that) then she would give it, without any hesitation. Either way, what was another kiss on top of the others they had already shared?

Barreling down the stairs as she was she didn't notice until the last moment that she had collided into the warm chest of a solid figure standing in front of her.

"Easy there Mist!" Ash laughed as he helped her regain her balance. "When did you guys get here?"

"Um, about twenty minutes ago. Gary was just showing me…rooms…" she finished pathetically.

Ash stared intently at her until she began to feel unnerved. She sighed; of course he'd know her better than that. "What's wrong Misty?" he asked, motioning for her to sit down on the stairs beside him.

"I just…I did something a little silly, now I feel bad about it." She met Ash's skeptical gaze and sighed, burying her head in her hands. "I promise that's all it is!"

"Yes, well, it does remain a mystery to me as to how you and Gary can maintain whatever it is you have going on while both still being such emotional morons." At Misty's narrowed eyes and all round dangerous expression he laughed nervously. "What? The two of you are as emotionally unavailable as they come! You seem to be trying but you don't quite know what to do. It's kind of adorable really!

"But," he continued, "it seems like doing silly things and feeling bad for them is going to be a common occurrence for the two of you while you try and work out exactly where you stand with each other. Trust me; Gary probably tears his hair out over doing things he isn't sure about just like you are now."

Misty leaned to the side to rest her head on his shoulder. "Seriously Ash, when did you grow up?"

"When no one was looking, apparently." He replied easily, looking down at her.

"I got so used to seeing you a particular way," she carried on thoughtfully, "it's going to be hard for me to adjust to seeing you as an adult."

"Mist, given that we are no longer together, and that you're currently pursing something with a guy I've hated since I was four, I hate to bring up the fact that you saw me as an adult _a lot_ in the time we were together."

"Sex jokes Ash?" she deadpanned, sitting up quickly to fix him with a glare. "Really? You're going to go there?"

He shrugged his shoulders, a cheeky grin spreading across his face. "I notice you're not trying to deny it!"

"Fine!" she threw her hands up in the air melodramatically. "You, Ash Ketchum are an absolute beast! I'm ruined for men forever, happy now?" Both fell about the stairs, laughing, enjoying the company of the other. "You do know we made the right decision to break up, right?" she asked suddenly, both breathless and serious.

"Yeah, of course. We aren't meant to be a couple, that's just how it is. Brock said something the other day, that we're a perfect match, just not a love match; he had a point there." He responded, just as breathless. "You're not my girlfriend, but you are my very best, very first friend and in many ways, I think that relationship is just as important."

She grinned. "I don't think any potential girlfriend of yours is going to appreciate that Ash."

He shrugged his shoulders again. "I wouldn't want to be with her if she didn't understand how much you mean to me Misty."

"Same here." She wrapped her arms around him in a hug he happily returned. "Just not the girlfriend part, you know I don't swing that way."

"After three years with me Mist, I have to say that much is obvious!"

She pulled away and smacked him lightly on the arm. "And there you go again! Ruining a perfectly nice moment with more sex jokes! Arceus, maybe you didn't grow up at all!"

"I resent that comment!"

"Resent it all you want Ashy boy, doesn't make it any less true." Both whirled around, seeing Gary standing with his arms crossed at the top of the stairs, watching them with an odd expression on his face.

"Gary!" Misty all but yelled in shock. "How long have you been standing there?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"Not very long." He lied. "I have to head down to the lab for a few hours. I'll see you guys later." With that he made his way down the stairs, stepping carefully around the two and down towards the labs without so much as a glance back.

Ash cringed slightly. "I think he may have heard more than he let on."

She met his gaze with a worried expression. "What we were talking about wasn't that bad, was it?"

"If the situation was reversed I might be kind of pissed off hearing my girlfriend having that sort of conversation with her ex, jokingly or not." He rubbed the back of his neck absently.

Misty chewed her bottom lip nervously. "And in this hypothetical role reversal, would you want your girlfriend to explain that it was nothing or would you rather be left alone for a while?"

"Misty, he knows we're just friends now, he would have heard that part too. Yes, friends with a history including a sex life, but he knows that's in the past. Hell, I pretty much gave you two my blessing. There isn't really much to explain."

"True, I suppose. How about if I told you that I kissed him before I ran into you and that's the reason I felt stupid? Would that change anything?"

Ash leaned back, resting on his elbows. "I still think you should leave him alone for a bit, explain when he's not as pissed off as he probably is now."

"If he was listening as long as you seem to think he probably heard that whole bit about he and me being 'emotional morons' as you so eloquently put it."

"If that's the case then definitely leave him alone. He doesn't seem to like having his emotions called into question, least of all by me." He stood up and stretched, offering a hand to Misty to help her up.

"I heard you guys last night." She said quietly.

Ash sighed and sat back down, turning to raise an eyebrow at her. "Eavesdropping isn't very becoming, Misty."

"It's not as though you guys were being quiet, Ash." She deadpanned. "You woke Brock up too."

"Yeah, but…" He ran a hand through his hair, trying in vain to flatten the stubborn strands that stood of their own accord. "The stuff Gary was saying was pretty heavy. He'd be pissed if he knew you were listening."

"I know, but…" she trailed off, unsure of what to add.

"What do you want me to say? Do you want to talk to him about that too?"

"I'm not sure…Ash, you and he don't get along but you've known Gary forever. He'd never admit it but you probably know him better than anyone except his family. I'd like your opinion."

"My advice, don't mention it. Most of that conversation was for him and me to work out our own stuff, and it was hard enough for him to say it to my face. The stuff about you…he'll come to you when he's ready, or rather when you're ready."

She sighed dejectedly. "You're probably right. Hey!" she sat bolt upright suddenly. "Can you show me my room?"

Ash looked at her, confused. "Isn't that what you were doing with Gary before?"

"No…we were…in his room." She blushed and looked away.

He smirked at her, "Oh were you now?"

Misty rolled her eyes. "I already told you what happened in there!"

"I know, I know. It's just that you were in his room, on his bed, you kissed him…" he trailed off, letting the implication come to her on its own.

"Ash, don't be vulgar. You should know that's not how I do things." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I won't give you the _many_ reasons why that statement isn't true, but I'll leave you with; my old house, Christmas morning two years ago when that was exactly how you did things."

She flushed a brilliant shade of red and buried her face in her hands. "Stop that, Ash." She mumbled warningly.

"You're just too easy to tease now Mist," he replied playfully before leaping up, bringing her up with him. "Let's find you that room…" he tugged her back down along the hallway, glancing at each door they passed. "Most of the rooms up here are free, but he'll probably want you in a room near him so…" they stopped at a room across the hall and to the right of Gary's. "This one!" he said triumphantly.

"Why this one?" she asked curiously.

"It's properly furnished, Ma redecorated it and it has an adjoining bathroom, and it's close to Gary so that'll keep him happy too." He twisted the doorknob and pushed it open. Stepping inside the room she let out a gasp.

The room was large to say the least, larger than the entire living room area of the Gym. The walls were painted a soft pastel green; Misty could feel the calming effects of the gentle colour wash over her as she moved to stand in the rooms' centre. The floors were covered in a thick cream coloured plush carpet that sunk under her weight as she moved. To the side of the room stood an empty bookshelf and chest of drawers, ready for a more personalised touch, and a gorgeous antique writing desk. Misty, however was more than impressed with the bed itself, a large four-poster covered with a silky blanket of blue with embroidered yellow flowers. In short, the room was absolutely beautiful.

"It's perfect." She whispered in awe. "I love it."

"Knew you would." Ash winked and grabbed her by the wrist, tugging her out of the room and back down the hall to the staircase. "C'mon, Ma really wants to see you. You should've seen her face when I said you were coming."

Misty giggled. In her estimations an unforgivable amount of time had passed since they last spoke. Having never really known her own mother, Misty regarded Delia as the mother she never had, and she knew in many ways Delia regarded Misty as the daughter she never had. Misty had almost felt guilty when she and Ash had called it quits on their relationship knowing they were in essence destroying Delia's desire to have Misty as her daughter in for real.

"Do I look healthy?" she asked, only half joking as they landed at the bottom of the stairs. "I never seem to arrive in a state of good enough health for your mother. I always look peaky, apparently."

Ash looked at her before laughing. "No such luck Mist! She sat me down with chicken soup pretty much as soon as I walked through the door, telling me I looked far too thin." He eyed her complexion and surprised her by leaning in to pinch her cheeks. "You look a little pale, but I know that's normal for you. Ma, on the other hand will definitely think you have pneumonia, so we better get some colour in your cheeks…"

She raised an eyebrow at his antics as his fingers continued to pinch at her skin. "Quite alright there, Ashy?"

"I can either do it this way or I can keep making jokes and make you blush that way. Your call." He quipped.

"ASH KETCHUM, DROP YOUR HANDS NOW!"

Both Ash and Misty cringed at the piercing volume Delia used standing not three metres away from them. They immediately jumped apart, hands flying to their ears.

"Ma!" Ash barked. "What was that for?"

"She's not _with_ you anymore Ash! You should know better than to be touching her right under Gary's nose!" Delia countered, flustered at what she thought she'd found.

"We weren't even doing anything!" Ash cried. "We aren't together, she came with Gary, what the hell do you think is happening?"

"Well I…that is to say…what were you two doing?" Delia asked, realising she had absolutely no clue what was happening.

"It was my fault Delia." Misty cut in with a small smile, used to calling the older woman by her first name after years of visiting her with Ash. "I was just talking to Ash about some problems I was having and he was helping cheer me up."

The expression on Delia's face softened; Ash had relayed most of what had happened before he left to meet Misty after her friends' funeral. She assumed that was why Misty needed cheering up. She moved forward, enveloping the young woman she viewed as a daughter in a tight hug. "I should have realised." She sighed. "Are you feeling a little better?"

"Um…yes?" Misty replied, confused. She looked over at Ash who just shrugged his shoulders.

"It's always difficult when a friend passes away," she continued. "If you need anything please don't hesitate to ask."

_So that's what she thought we meant._ "Thank you Delia, I am doing quite a bit better on that front."

Delia pulled away with a pleased smile. "I'm glad to hear it. Now," she began walking back down the hall towards the living room, beckoning for Ash and Misty to follow her. "Would you like some tea? I'm doing some scrapbooking and I'd love some company." She gestured to the table in the centre of the room that was covered in old photographs and decorative embellishments for the photo albums themselves.

Ash and Misty exchanged a look, only for Ash to smirk and mouth 'you're on your own' before sprinting back down the hall and outside. Both women watched his retreating form with a slack jaw.

"I clearly went wrong somewhere with that boy." Delia muttered to herself before settling back down on the floor in front of the table. After a moment Misty followed suit and sat on the opposite side, shuffling through the various pictures in front of her.

"I'm pretty sure that's just Ash." She replied, smiling slightly. "How are you going about this, Delia? Is there any theme or order to the pictures you're using?"

Delia smiled. "I'm sorting through Samuels' family photos at the moment, pictures of his late daughter and son in law, and some baby pictures of Gary and his sister." She handed Misty a small pile of pictures that sat to her side. "Sort through these and pick the best ones."

Nodding wordlessly, Misty began sifting through the small pile; each picture brought a smile to her face. She placed the pictures to be used into a separate pile and handed them over, watching as Delia nodded in approval before pasting the pictures down in the awaiting album.

The two women worked in companionable silence. Every so often one would laugh and show the other the picture they were looking at; there were many pictures of Ash and Gary together as children. Little Ash wore the same carefree smile he had now, whereas little Gary always looked adorably grouchy.

"Sticky dots!" Delia cried suddenly.

"What?" Misty asked, looking up from the pictures in her hand.

"Sticky dots!" Delia said again as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "As opposed to glue, I could use adhesive dots! It would be much cleaner, and the pages wouldn't be as sticky!" She leapt up from her position and ran to grab her purse before flying out the door. "I'll be back soon Misty!" she called from outside.

Misty gawked after her before shaking her head and sorting out the pictures once more. "So that's where Ash gets it…" she muttered to herself.

**-XXX-**

Maybe he actually _did _want to see Ash dead and not just seriously maimed as he suggested the day prior.

He had heard every word of their conversation on the stairs; he tried to follow Misty out of his room after sitting frozen in place for a minute after their kiss. It was the first kiss of theirs she had initiated, it was just the barest fluttering of her lips against his and even now, sitting in his chair in the lab, he couldn't tell if it had made his heart speed up or come to a complete standstill. All he knew is that it had felt like a lightning bolt of sensation had travelled through his body, tingling him from the top of his head to the very tips of his toes.

As for the conversation he overheard, he didn't resent the 'emotional morons' comment as much as one might think; in fact, Ash's insight to the fact that everything between him and Misty was so new and that there was bound to be difficulties knowing what was going to pass as OK between them actually made a whole lot of sense and (just maybe) helped Gary see things as they currently were with Misty with a little more clarity.

The sex jokes, however mild, were a little too much for him to handle.

A jealous streak he didn't know he possessed tore through him. Rationally speaking, he knew there was nothing at all to be worried about. Misty wasn't exactly his girlfriend yet, but there had been enough between them for him to get his hopes up and assume she one day would be. But hearing Ash crack jokes as he was, and knowing Misty was laughing at them, completely at ease, it felt as though a fire had been lit within him that he was struggling to put out.

_I really am an emotional moron._

Gary ran his hands roughly through his hair, tugging on the strands. He knew it was a fucking stupid thing to get jealous over. After all, it was old news now. They weren't even together anymore! However it didn't stop Gary coming up with alternate realities where he might have met Misty at sixteen as opposed to her sister. He knew she wouldn't have liked him then. He had to go through so much to become the man he was now, the man Misty actually did like for some inexplicable reason. What did he honestly have to offer her? Would he ever be able to make her as happy as Ash did?

Misty, if his assumptions were correct, would have lost her virginity to Ash. She wouldn't have had the awkward, fumbling experience of being with someone whom she felt at best indifferently towards. She would have had the tender moments, the whispers of sweet nothings, the worshipping of her body by someone who loved her, the ability to laugh and feel completely at ease with it all three years later, no longer with the guy. Gary didn't have that, nor did he have the opportunity to give it. He had been sixteen, fucking horny as hell, and Daisy had been twenty five, experienced and willing. It had been a quick, awkward and messy affair but it got the job done and he had regretted it, and nearly every other subsequent sexual experience, ever since.

Gary hated the self-doubt coursing through him; by nature he was cocky and arrogant, feeling insecure was something completely foreign to him. Even where Misty was concerned he had been determined, confident that something would come out of their prospective relationship, but now he began to feel hesitant that he could be the man she deserved. They were an explosive pair, both incredibly passionate in nature; each challenged the other and friction between them was often an issue. Was that passion enough?

He knew Misty was looking for a fairytale; Hell, all women were. They all wanted the flowers, the grand gestures, the complete and utter romanticism of words and actions and the Prince riding the white horse. Personally, Gary felt the notion of fairytales and Prince Charming was part of a greater mass conspiracy to make men the world over feel as inadequate as possible. He knew he wasn't the most chivalrous guy around, but he was making the effort to try with Misty with smaller steps, but would it ever be enough to make him the man he needed to be for her?

Pushing out from his desk he spun around on the chair, kicking his foot against the ground to keep the momentum going. There was nothing at all in the lab that needed his attention, he just needed to be alone with his thoughts; not for the first time, he thanked Arceus Tracey was on holidays for the next two weeks, one less thing to have to deal with. He didn't think he could deal with Tracey and his inane bullshit right now, or ever for that matter.

He used his feet to push the chair across the lab to where his egg was still bobbing in the warm water of its incubating tank. Only another two months and it would be hatched and he'd be able to begin his new phase of research. The slow, almost deliberate movements of the egg in the water never ceased to calm him, no matter the situation.

Gary sat distractedly in front of the tank for almost half an hour until his eyes felt strained. Forcibly pulling himself away from the desk, he stood and stretched. Sighing, he left the lab, convinced that the only thing that might be able to help him sort through everything would be to speak to the woman herself.

**-XXX-**

"Ah, I remember when this one was taken! Gary was in quite a mood that day."

Misty all but screamed and spun around to see the Professor standing above her with a picture in his hand and a grin on his face. She clutched a hand to her chest and let out a sigh of relief when she saw who it was.

"Professor! You scared me!" she breathed.

He smiled apologetically. "Do you know where my lovely wife has disappeared to?"

"Something about sticky dots, I'm guessing she ducked out to a craft store, she left in a bit of a hurry about twenty minutes ago." She replied as the Professor sat down across from her to get a better look at the pictures and the work being done.

"She takes this sort of thing far too seriously." He remarked, eyes full of adoration for his wife. "She came up from the basement with a huge box of photos nearly a week ago, saying it was almost criminal that they were only in a box where no one could see them. She's been at it ever since."

"I think that's just…" she trailed off upon finding another picture on the table. She stared at it and felt herself tear up slightly, surprised a mere picture of people she didn't even know could stir such a reaction in her.

"Misty?" The Professor watched her with an almost worried expression on his face. With a small smile she handed the picture over, listening as his breath hitched as he too stared at the faces in the picture.

It was a picture of Gary's parents at their wedding. Gary clearly hadn't been joking when he said his parents were a modern day Romeo and Juliet. The emotion captured in the photo was absolutely incredible; they looked at each other as though nothing could touch them. Knowing how their story would end, it was almost heartbreaking to look at it.

"I was wondering what happened to this picture." He whispered, almost in awe. "I had it out before everything happened but I had to put it away, it was too hard to look at…"

Misty had no idea what to say, instead opting to sit in silence with the man who was now awash in a sea of memories.

"Well, don't all rush to greet me at once." Gary joked from the doorway. Both Misty and the Professor spun around to see him standing before them, hands in his pockets, looking quite curious as to what caused the somber atmosphere.

The Professor looked between the two before standing, clapping a hand on Gary's shoulder as he walked past. "I'll leave you two alone." he said with a smile as he left the room.

Both watched him leave, Misty with a sad smile, Gary merely looking confused.

"What was that about?" Gary asked.

"This." She replied simply, holding the picture out for him to look at.

Almost warily, Gary took it from her hands, showing almost no outward reaction to the picture as he looked at it, though Misty could see the conflict in his eyes.

"Not hard to see where you got your looks." Misty said lightly, trying to lift the mood a little. She gave a little smirk in triumph when Gary chuckled slightly.

"I'm told I look a lot like my mother. Same hair and eyes." He commented as he sat beside her. "Other features are all my Dad's, though."

"What about this one?" Misty asked, smirking as she handed him another picture.

Gary groaned at the memory it brought up. He was seven in the picture, soaking wet and covered in feathers and grass clippings. Ash was in the foreground, doubled over in laughter. "I have no idea how Delia managed to get there so quickly with a camera." said Gary as he shook his head. "Who knew Ash could get one over me at all?"

"If that's the one Ash always talked about, it was a proud moment for him. He often talked about the time he feathered that ass Gary Oak."

"He pushed me into a puddle and threw a bucket of grass and Pidgey feathers at me! It wasn't exactly an impressive prank!"

"Must have been a reason why he did it."

Gary grinned sheepishly. "I may have hacked his hair off while he slept."

Misty rolled her eyes and laughed, "You really were an evil little thing, weren't you?"

"Hey, you get Ash as a neighbour; you have to learn how to deal with him."

"You'll make a wonderful parent someday, Gary." She replied sarcastically. "Kid steps out of line; your immediate response is to hack its hair off while it sleeps."

"Only if it's really annoying." He reasoned with a grin.

Misty scoffed and lightly swatted his shoulder, "Well, when you put it like _that__._" Picking up the pile of pictures again she set about her task once more, subconsciously leaning into Gary as she worked. Occasionally she would show him pictures and he would explain who was in them and what was going on at the time. Neither Misty nor Gary could recall a time where they felt so incredibly content and at ease with another person.

"Red," he started, sounding hesitant as he placed a hand over hers to halt her movements, breaking the comfortable silence to ask what he came down to ask. "As it stands right now, am I enough for you?"

"Feeling insecure, are you?" Misty smirked.

"Don't joke. I heard what you and Ashy were talking about, and he's right. Emotionally speaking, I am a complete and total fuckwit. You're the first girl I've ever felt like _this_ about, I have no idea if I'm doing it all wrong or what. I don't know if I can give you what you need Red, and if you don't think I can then what exactly are we doing?"

She turned to face him, her expression unreadable. "Gary, what the hell bought this on?"

"Red, you know what I was like. I had a reputation as a sleaze who strung girls along for the hell of it. I got drunk every other night, and let's not forget that I lost my virginity to your oldest sister and I am most certainly no Prince Charming. How can you really want to be with me?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you really trying to talk me out of this?"

"No! I just need you to know that I'm not Ash!"

"What the bloody hell are you on about?"

"You and Ash were the fucking golden couple!" he cried passionately. "Even now you're still so close, I honestly don't know if I could make you as happy as he did."

"For fucks' sake, Gary! He and I broke up for a reason! I was only really happy with him for about half of our time together, the rest of it we were both miserable. He and I can never be a couple, and he can never make me happy the way you do. I don't want you to be Ash!"

At his odd expression she carried on. "I heard you and Ash talking the other night," as expected, he looked absolutely horrified. "In my defense, you guys weren't exactly quiet." She giggled at his contrite expression. "You said you loved me because I became your best friend, did you honestly think it wasn't the same for me? Gary, the time we spent together over the past few months has meant more to me than you'll ever know! You were there for me when I needed you without me even needing to ask! That is what your stupid Prince Charming is! I told you not even an hour ago that I was grateful that you didn't leave when stuff got hard with me. I frickin' kissed you too! What more will it take for you to realise I feel the same way about you?" she cried, taking deep breaths, watching Gary's face for any kind of reaction to what she just said.

"You feel the same?" he asked slowly.

"Arceus Gary, yes! Of course I do, how could I not?"

"I can give you many reasons why not."

"And I would dismiss every single one of them! You are far more than your past; the man you are now is incredible. I will not say the 'L word' until I'm good and ready, but I'm not letting you go so easily Gary Oak!"

Both sat in silence for a few minutes, absorbing the magnitude of what had been said, both acknowledging the reality that something amazing was waiting for them when they were ready to take it.

**-XXX-**

"Samuel? What are you doing out here?" Delia asked her husband as she climbed out of her car, arms full of craft supplies. He was lying on the grass with his hands behind his head, a huge smile on his face.

"I just wanted some fresh air dear." He replied, closing his eyes against the glare of the sun.

"Oh." Gently she set her supplies down on the ground, moving to sit next to her husband. "Are you feeling OK?"

"I'm really just giving Gary and Misty a little privacy." He replied with a wink and a knowing smile.

Delia giggled. "Are you planning something?"

"No. I think they can get there on their own. After all, his parents managed in similar circumstances."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Gary is very similar to his father, and Misty happens to be very similar to his mother. He was always bull headed and arrogant, but she always saw through it. They were two halves of one whole, and they completed each other, anyone who knew them could see it." He paused for a moment, piecing his thoughts together, "Gary and Misty look at each other the exact same way his parents did, like there is no one else in the world but them." He turned to smile at his wife.

"So, should we help them out? Give them a little push?" Delia suggested, her mind swimming with matchmaking possibilities between the two young adults that were for all intents and purposes her children also.

He shook his head, laughing at how predictable his wife could be. "I think they'll be fine. Misty staying here will be all the push they need."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN: **Dun dun dun, another one bites the dust…ha ha, get that one out of your head now bitch!

I've been saying it for a while, but after this chapter there are 3 more chapters plus an epilogue to go. It's definite now!

Leave a review! They make me feel all tingly inside! Plus for a bunch of you that wanted me to hurry it up on the last chapter so you could finally see the Ash/Gary confrontation, you only left 2 reviews! I might have to become that obnoxious sort of author who requires a certain amount of reviews before she posts the next chapter. Don't push me there!


	19. Chapter 18: Milestones

Presenting for you all another chapter! Apologies for the wait, I'm the first to admit I'm becoming a little lax right now! Despite how the chapter plays out, there is **no lemon** in this one, but we are gearing up for it so if you're a little bit squeamish at the prospect of potential sex scenes and sexual references, you have been warned that that is the direction this story is beginning to take. We are getting to the somewhat graphic portion if this story. Enjoy this half fluffy/ half dramatic chapter!

Must give a quick shout-out to **Branmuffinpower**, another author on here writing a brilliant Egoshipping story called 'Game'. If you aren't reading it already, go give it a look; it really is an awesome story that deserves far more reviews :)

**DISCLAIMER: **First Pokemon, and then the WORLD *maniacal laughter*! But I surely procrastinate way too much; I don't have the sort of fortitude and focus World Domination requires…or to wake up in the morning…so I certainly won't be acquiring anything anytime soon. So I think it speaks for itself that I don't own squat.

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 18: 'Milestones'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Gary had found himself in quite the predicament.

Over the past month and a half that she had been staying with him, he and Misty had been sharing close quarters. While he absolutely loved having her around and spending time with her, it left his mind open for somewhat unwanted thoughts. And he wanted to maintain some sense of decorum and gentlemanliness around her.

It was getting…harder; in every sense of the word.

While Misty had been staying with him they had become even closer as friends, or whatever it was that they were. While he knew on some level that it was completely normal, he felt almost lecherous in the thoughts he had been having about her. Never having been in love he couldn't say if there was some sort of etiquette in this situation; does one usually have outrageously perverted dreams about the person they loved so much it hurt? They were always graphic, explicit in detail, and Arceus, they stuck with him. After some time of this exquisite torture he could hardly look at Misty without his mind conjuring some fantasy, usually involving an image of Misty writhing in ecstasy beneath him, lips parted in a soft moan as she came undone before his very eyes.

It wasn't an uncommon fantasy; he'd been having them infrequently since he first saw Misty again, but as of late they had become steadily more depraved and far more frequent. Having her bedroom so close to his wasn't helping matters at all either, and it was taking every damn ounce of his restraint to keep from bursting in there. Having the object of his deepest affections just a few steps away in what was meant to be her safest havens invoked temptations he didn't want to invite. Everything she did looked so damn sexy though! It was as though he was seeing her for the first time all over again! Every move seemed a deliberate and calculated attempt to send him and his imagination into complete and total overdrive. Whether it was stretching to reach something up high revealing an otherwise covered expanse of lower back or flat stomach, or even the chewing of her lower lip when she was concentrating on something or worried, hell, even the simple act of breathing that caused her chest to rise and fall with each inhalation; it was all driving Gary utterly insane.

And it was turning him on like hell.

While it had been rather torturous not being able to touch her, having her there hadn't been without its rewards. He'd derived great happiness from watching her go about her day to day life while staying at the lab, as well as taking up breakfasts with her again. It took him back to the early days of their friendship, remembering how far they'd come from that first, mildly awkward breakfast where they gradually eased into a comfortable routine with each other in five short months.

As Gary awoke that particular morning, he groaned as he noticed the 'predicament' he had been waking up with most mornings after these particular dreams. He tossed the blankets off his lower half, hesitating to reach down and take care of the problem himself; as a general rule Gary didn't give over to self-gratification, his past didn't lend itself to him ever really needing to. Instead he stared at the tented fabric of his silky boxers, willing his erection to go away by itself, thinking thoroughly unsexy thoughts.

_Tracey doing a striptease._

_That maggot-infested Zigzagoon corpse I saw travelling between Mauville City and Verdanturf Town._

_Gramps wearing women's underwear._

_That manly looking and rather large fangirl who accosted me in a supermarket wearing too much make up and little more than supposedly sexy red and black lace underwear._

"Did you really think you could keep this from me?" Misty demanded as she suddenly threw open the bedroom door and strode with purpose into his room, hands behind her back, paying no mind to Gary's surprised yelp as he threw the blankets back over to cover the lower half of his body.

"Keep what from you Red?" he asked, confused and flustered. He caught a determined glint in her eye, reminding him of yet another of his fantasies where she would move languidly above him, riding him to completion. Another rush of blood headed southwards and he felt himself harden instantly. _Fuck. Why am I such a bloody nymphomaniac?_

"I'm the only one who didn't bloody know! Seriously, I had to find out early this morning when Ash called to tell me when he'd be dropping by. The idiot never did get a hang of the different time zones." she muttered as an aside. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Red, calm down! I have absolutely no idea what you're on about!"

"I just thought this would have at least gotten a mention! I have no idea why you'd try to hide this from me, I mean, I told you mine after all – "

"For the love of – please, just stop." Gary held a hand up to try and silence her. "Now tell me, what's your problem?"

She smirked, bringing her hands from behind her back to throw a small, wrapped parcel onto the bed. "Happy Birthday, Gary!"

**-XXX-**

"Any particular reason you didn't mention it?" she asked as they made their way towards the kitchen.

"I don't really enjoy celebrating it." he replied in a still groggy voice.

"Ah." She said by way of reply, guessing that being orphaned at age five had more than a little to do with it. She didn't particularly relish her own birthday either. "Well, I made you some breakfast if you're interested? A special birthday breakfast I might add; something you mentioned you loved a while back…"

"But you already gave me my present!" he grinned. "Though I must ask just how you knew about my penchant for black leather?"

"Gary," she turned slowly to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "It's a leather bound journal, not a whip."

"Still, I do love black leather, the look of it, the feel of it…" he spoke slyly, pouting when he saw the warning expression on Misty's face. "Fine!" he drew out, "What's for breakfast?"

The smile returned to Misty's face. "Do you remember what you said I'd need to make if I ever wanted to top the pancakes all those months ago?"

His eyebrows furrowed, trying to remember. "It's too early to be asking questions like that!" he groaned.

Misty rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him to the kitchen. She laughed as he sniffed the air curiously. "You told me," she started as she pushed him onto a waiting chair, "that if I was open to suggestions to beat you, chocolate chip waffles were something that you hadn't had in years."

His eyes widened comically. "No way," he said in a breathy, sleepy tone more appropriate for an eight year old.

She laughed again, producing two plates from the bench behind her to place one in front of Gary, piled high with the aforementioned waffles, drowned in syrup, fruits and whipped cream. "Enjoy." She said with a wink, sitting in the chair opposite him with her own plate.

After a few mouthfuls where Gary was moaning, his eyes were rolling in complete and utter delight, he noticed Misty wasn't eating. "Aren't you going to eat, Red?"

"Just wanted to get the seal of approval first." She smirked. "I've never made waffles before."

"Oh, so I'm your guinea pig, am I?" he retorted playfully.

"Something like that." She winked, taking a small bite

They ate in comfortable silence for some time, Gary becoming quite preoccupied with watching Misty lick stray drops of syrup from her lips, wishing he could do it for her. Fighting to keep his jaw from dropping at the mere sight of the Goddess in front of him, he remembered something. "They aren't throwing me a party, are they?" he asked, slightly panicked.

"Kevin didn't say anything about a party when I saw him earlier." She replied, wiping her mouth daintily with a napkin, not noticing the look of disappointment that crossed Gary's face as she did. "But I don't suppose that really means much. Are they likely to throw you a party?"

"It's my first birthday back here since I was seventeen. Delia probably has something up her sleeves. Surely you would have been back here with Ash for one of his birthdays?"

Misty shuddered at the memory of Ash's last birthday in Pallet, a year and a half before they became a couple, still travelling together with Brock the second time around. It was a surprise party, in every sense of the word. Upon walking into the old Ketchum residence, they heard the cries of 'SURPRISE' from Delia and a few others in attendance, Ash stumbled backwards, taking Brock to the ground with him where both men hit their heads on the concrete floor of the path leading to the house, receiving severe concussions for their trouble. Delia, of course, felt terrible that her son had to spend his seventeenth birthday in the Viridian City Hospital Emergency Room, but couldn't help but feel that both young men should have been able to shake off their injuries much quicker than they had. _You're both strong boys, you've both been through more than most adults, what's a little head injury? _She had said as though her son and his friends' injuries had been terrible inconveniences.

"One birthday does come to mind, but I don't think it's for the same reasons you're concerned about." Misty replied, taking a sip of juice. "Having said that though, she does throw a great Christmas party."

"That's kind of what I'm worried about Red. Those Christmas parties…they're a little excessive..."

"Never in a million years did I think I would ever hear Gary Oak complain about excess."

"You know what I mean Red. She insists in the games, singing, wearing shitty paper hats and telling the worst jokes imaginable while not letting anyone drink proper alcohol! It's carbonated fucking grape juice! How are we meant to cope?"

"Come on Gary, it's not like you're turning ten! You're twenty three and very, very accomplished. I'm sure if they're planning anything it'll be age appropriate, so don't panic."

He heaved a sigh and went back to dragging a strawberry through the pool of syrup and cream on his plate. "You're probably right."

"They might not do anything Gary," she pointed out, "you're probably worrying over nothing."

"I doubt it." He muttered. "When's Ashy getting here?"

Misty furrowed her brow contemplatively. "He called at half past five saying he'd still be another few hours, so probably around nine or ten."

"He called early." Gary commented.

Misty shrugged nonchalantly. "Like I said before, I think he forgets that Hoenn is four hours ahead of Kanto."

Gary sunk back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "The fact that he's coming back at all is proof enough that they're planning something. Got to have the whole family here for this."

"Any reason you're so damn paranoid? What's so bad about a party?"

As he opened his mouth to answer, Delia, the Professor, Kevin and a livid looking Tracey walked in. Misty shrunk back slightly at the look Tracey was giving her as he looked back and forth between her and Gary and the breakfast on the table. Each was holding an assortment of gifts in their arms. Gary cringed as they collectively began to sing Happy Birthday.

"Happy Birthday Gary!" Delia gushed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Professor Oak came to Gary's side to clap him on the shoulder, smiling warmly at his grandson.

Reluctantly Gary patted her forearm. "Thank you Delia, Gramps." He replied tightly.

Misty watched the exchange between the two, taking note of the almost strained expression in his face as he accepted the hug. She understood how he felt; it was the same feeling she had whenever Delia hugged her. As much as she loved Delia as a surrogate mother, it was always difficult to forget her own mother, where ever she may be; the same had to be said for Gary. On occasions like this it would be difficult to forget birthdays spent with his family when he was a child.

Everyone came forward and placed their gifts on the table, all taking a seat to watch Gary open them except Tracey who wandered off, muttering something no one could understand under his breath. Misty let out a silent sigh of relief when she was sure he was out of sight.

Gary stared at the eager expressions on their faces, confused as to what they wanted. "Yes?" he said expectantly to the three sets of eyes trained on him.

"Aren't you going to open them?" asked Delia, an almost pleading edge to her voice. She grinned; feeling gratified as Gary slowly reached out to the nearest gift and began unwrapping.

Sometime later, as the wrapping paper cleared and Gary's gifts were arranged into neat stacks, Delia spoke once more; "There's still one last present Gary, but you won't be getting it until tonight."

Gary looked pointedly over at Misty with glance that said 'I told you so' to which she simply rolled her eyes, an exchange that was lost on the others in the room. "Please tell me you aren't throwing a surprise party?" he begged.

"If I told you it would be a surprise now would it?" Delia laughed. "But in either case, it's not a party, Samuel persuaded me not to."

"Then what _do_ you have planned?" he asked, a hint of worry in his tone as he looked desperately around the table for a hint of any kind from anyone else.

"Just a dinner out at that new restaurant in town." She replied airily. "Everyone will be there, though your sister can't make it, something about not being able to find a babysitter on such short notice."

Gary knew this was not a battle he could win. Sighing dejectedly, he rose from the table, picking up his and Misty's empty plates and taking them to the sink. "What time?" he asked wearily.

Delia clapped her hands together giddily. "I made the reservation for seven. Dress nicely." She added with a wink before taking her husband by the wrist and leading him out.

"Got anything planned for today, Gary?" asked Kevin now that he was able to get a word in edgeways.

Gary thought for a moment. "No, nothing planned. I was just going to go about my day as normal. I'm not big on celebrating my birthday in case you hadn't noticed." He replied dryly.

"I'm sure you'll think of _something_ to do." He winked, making a point to address Misty also, before leaving the room also.

"I told you they were planning something!" Gary groaned, sitting back down in his seat to bash his head lightly against the table. "I have a really bad feeling about this."

"It's just dinner at a nice restaurant!" Misty reasoned, raising an eyebrow at his melodramatics. "It doesn't sound so bad, does it?"

"When it all goes to shit tonight Red, know that I will remind you that you said that."

She laughed. "What is the worst that could possibly happen?"

His eyes narrowed slightly at her. "Now you're purposely jinxing it."

"How anyone can put up with you and your paranoia is beyond me, Gary!" Misty sighed emphatically.

"And yet here you are Red." He leaned forward with a smirk.

"The only reason I'm still here right now is because you need to take me to Viridian City."

His eyes widened in horror. "It's _my_ birthday; why should I spend it in Viridian?"

She huffed, folding her arms in her lap. "I didn't think I'd be getting dragged to a fancy restaurant when I first came here. I didn't consider formal wear."

"You being serious, are you?" Gary deadpanned. "You actually want me to take you dress shopping?"

"Unless you want me to rock up dressed like this!" she gestured to the ripped jeans and blue tee she was wearing. "Hardly appropriate for a formal dinner. And besides, I hate shopping, so we'll be done nice and quick!"

"But it's my birthday!" he whined.

Misty threw him a decidedly sneaky little smirk. "I can always ask Ash to come with me. I'm sure he'd – "

" - OK, OK, I'll take you to Viridian! Geez!" he relented, huffing silently as he did so.

"I have no idea why you're acting like I'm about to make you kill a Growlithe puppy." Misty said wryly. "I swear to Arceus, we'll be done in less than two hours."

"I'll hold you to that." He stretched lazily, his shirt riding up to give Misty a good view of his toned abs and the dark trail of hair below his belly button. He smirked when he noticed her eyes drift down, a slight blush gracing her cheeks. "When do you want to leave?"

She swallowed the remainder of her juice before standing and all but sprinting from the table. "Give me half an hour to get ready, then we can go."

When she was out of earshot, Gary let out a groan, running his hands through his hair. He pushed off the bench he had been leaning on and made his way back upstairs to change, lamenting the fact that he allowed himself to be roped in to a dress shopping excursion, on his fucking birthday, no less!

_Sneaky, sneaky little wench._

**-XXX-**

"That was…mostly painless." mused Gary aloud as they wandered the corridors of the Viridian City Mall.

"I told you I'm not much for shopping; I was never going to draw it out any longer than necessary." Misty replied, shopping bag in hand.

If she were being truthful, Misty would have liked to drag their little trip out far longer, enjoying having Gary to herself a little more. She was very aware of the effect her presence was having on him (he didn't hide his morning 'predicament' very well; if she didn't know any better, she'd say on some subconscious level he wanted her to see) and felt thoroughly gratified to know she was having such an affect. It made her feel better about her own sordid fantasies.

Gary Oak, for the past few months, had become the singular star of every one of her sexual fantasies. Given his almost unfair good looks, reputation, his overwhelming confidence and the now very tender way he handled Misty, it was difficult to imagine Gary being anything less than stellar between the sheets. Fantasy Gary knew exactly how and where to touch, kiss, lick, stroke, nibble, tease to reduce her to inarticulate, quivering mess of a woman. Fantasy Gary was proving to be quite the turn on at that very moment, Misty having to remind herself that it would not do to get herself all hot and bothered, in a shopping centre no less.

"Anything else you want to do while we're here, Red?" Gary asked, jolting her for the moment out of her sexually repressed dream land. His hand reached out to take hers; both marveled at just how easy the small physical intimacy had become.

"I don't think so. I kind of hate shopping in places like this. What about you?"

"Well, since you managed to drag me out dress shopping on my birthday no less, I'm wondering if you could help me with something."

"And what might that be?"

"Gifts for my nephews." He replied as they came to a stop in front of a toy shop.

"You have nephews?"

"No, I lied. I want that toy train set in the window." He quipped sarcastically. At her raised eyebrow he chuckled. "Two of them, my sisters' kids."

"How old are they?" she asked.

"Christopher is one, and James is four. I visited them a few weeks ago, but it was the first time I had visited in years. I just thought it might be nice to buy them some presents." They inched closer to the window at the front of the store to get a better look at the toys for sale.

She looked up at him with a smile on her face. "Well, it is a pretty kick ass train set; any four year old would love it."

"It's his then!" he laughed as he pulled her into the store.

"Gary!" Misty called amusedly, "The entire store is full of toys, you don't need to pick the first one you see!"

He picked up a basket and placed the boxed toy train in. "You said it first, it really is a kick ass train set. James really would love it. Now, what exactly do you buy a one year old?"

"Something soft, a teddy bear maybe? I bought Daisy's daughter heaps of Water Pokemon plushies for her first birthday." She responded absently as she picked up and inspected random toys on the shelf.

"Water Pokemon plushies, Red? A little early to initiate the newest Waterflower, isn't it?"

"Someone had to remind her of her heritage, Arceus knows Daisy was never going to do it." Misty huffed. "Nothing that has parts they could bite off and choke on, but maybe something colourful that makes lots of noise."

"By that logic I should buy a party whistle blower." He remarked dryly.

"Hey, you're the one who asked for my help. I didn't have to say yes." She flitted off down the aisles towards where the plush toys were kept, Gary dawdling behind, distracted by the multitudes of new toys around him. "I swear I never had toys this cool." He muttered to himself.

"Gary! I found the perfect toys!" Misty called from the next aisle over.

He sauntered over slowly, finding Misty holding three miniaturised versions of each of the Kanto Region Starter Pokemon. They were tiny in body with huge heads and exaggerated features, soft with embroidered detailing so there was no need to worry about baby Christopher biting off and choking on sewn on embellishments. While Gary knew they were a perfect gift, equally as priceless was the look on Misty's face as she found them.

"I thought this would take way longer." remarked Gary, taking the toys from her hands and placing them in her basket.

"They have the other regions starters too if you wanted to get them?"

"I think the Kanto ones are more symbolic, Christopher is an Oak after all." He puffed out his chest in pride.

Misty snickered. "However will the poor kid manage?"

"I managed just fine, thank you!" he replied, his nose in the air in a look of haughty indignation.

"I'm pretty sure the Oak name went straight to your head. Someone needs to keep your nephew humble." Misty commented with a smirk as they walked towards the register.

"My sister does a good job of that, don't worry."

"What's your sister like?" Misty asked.

"Very down to earth, humble, understanding, and she's a great mother to her kids." He replied, stating these qualities very matter-of-factly, as though it was common knowledge not to be disputed.

"So the complete opposite of you then?" Misty retorted cheekily.

With a smirk he paid for the gifts and led her out. "Oh don't worry, she's as much an Oak as I am, but she did get the lions' share of humility and modesty."

"So she's just like you, but humble, with an intact conscience and a filter on her mouth?"

"OK, for that, you're not getting any of my birthday cake."

"Spoilsport." She countered laughingly before poking her tongue out. "She does sound great, though. I'd like to meet her one day."

"Well, that is just too convenient. I'd like you to meet her too."

"Why?" Misty asked, coming to a stop in the middle of the corridor.

"I think you two would get along." He shrugged. "Besides, you've met the rest of my family, why not my sister?"

Smiling, Misty took his hand again, touched that he'd even want her to meet his sister and her family. "When do you want to do this?"

"When we're ready." Gary answered as he led her out of the mall.

**-XXX-**

As they all piled into the car to head to the restaurant, Misty didn't believe it was possible for one person to feel so damn uncomfortable.

She was unnerved by the glances Tracey was throwing her and Gary's way as he helped her into the car. She had been under the impression that both Brock and Gary had talked to Tracey at some point, and that he had come to terms with the fact that she didn't return his affections. His gaze was...possessive, for lack of a better word. It made her feel almost ill, with a sense of foreboding in the air.

On the plus side though, Gary did look _damn_ fine in formal wear.

In a coincidence Gary claimed no knowledge of (though the mischievous glint in his eye told another story), their outfits matched. Gary wore a dark charcoal grey suit over a deep green shirt. Never one for stuffy formal wear he left the top two buttons undone, and left his hair styled in his usual spikes, giving the outfit an incredibly casual appeal. Misty wore a silky strapless cocktail gown of the same green colour, a shade which offset the fiery copper of her hair and the milky porcelain of her skin beautifully. Never one to be self-conscious, her dress ended at the knee, her long scar on view to all who sought it.

The _Villes de Couleurs _was a beautiful restaurant, dimly lit with candles spread out across the large dining area, deep blood red carpets, high spiral staircases and small bouquets of wildflowers dotting each table, each detail insignificant on its own, adding up to create an almost sensuous atmosphere.

The menu, however, was positively mind-boggling.

The prices for dishes comprised of three single bites were, in a word, offensive. At what she could only assume was a most incredulous look on her face, Gary chuckled. "It's a bit much, isn't it?" he commented lowly moving closer to speak to her, ignoring the look of murder in Tracey's eyes as he did so.

"It's definitely something." She muttered, not looking up. "How does any restaurant get away with charging these amounts? I can't bloody afford this!"

"Gramps will be footing the bill, Red. It is my birthday after all. Order whatever you want." He placed his hand on her knee, fingers tracing light circles on the skin. Inwardly he laughed at the raised eyebrow and pointed look she gave him, though she made no attempt to remove his hand, bringing her own to rest on his to still the movements and twine their fingers.

Misty shut the menu and placed it on the table. "I think after this I'll just want to go find the greasiest, cheesiest burger I can get for less than ten bucks."

"Hey, you're the one who spent the entire bloody day trying to convince me what a good idea this little dinner was. Don't tell me you're giving up already!"

"What's up guys?" Ash leaned in from Misty's other side. "You think this place is pretentious as all get out too? Can't believe Ma was so damn excited about it."

"Ooh, Ashy's using big words now!" Gary grinned, only to receive a scowl from Ash and an elbow to the ribs from Misty. "I mean, yes, yes we do." He added with a roll of his eyes.

"You've been to a million of dinners at places like this with your research stuff though," Ash pointed out, the earlier quasi insult forgotten, "Surely you're used to it?"

"Not even a little bit, Ashy. These places are stuffy and filled to the brim with people who think they're better than you." Gary said in a tone just above a whisper. As Gary leaned in to talk, he and Misty were almost pressed together; his arm came around her chair while the other hand remained at her knee. Tracey was almost red in anger but still no one noticed.

"You guys can plot an escape for now. I'm heading off to the ladies room for a moment." With a smile to everyone at the table to excuse herself she stood up and smoothed the little wrinkles in her dress, crossing to the other side of the room where the restrooms were.

As she stepped out moments later, a hand wrapped suddenly around her wrist, pulling her back into the darkened hallway. She gasped in surprise upon seeing who it was. "Misty," started Tracey in low, dark tone that made her shiver to hear, "Can we step outside for a moment?"

She looked over his shoulders back into the restaurant at those she had come to consider her family. Satisfied neither Gary nor Ash were watching, she looked back at Tracey, nodding mutely as she allowed herself to be pulled out into the cold night air.

He dragged her to a nearby alleyway and pushed her roughly against a brick wall. She gasped; Tracey wouldn't _hurt _her, would he?

"Did you really think I wouldn't be able to see it Misty?" he began angrily.

"See what? Tracey, you're not making any sense."

"I warned you months ago, but did you listen? NO! You went off and fucked him anyway – "

Misty was beyond incensed, she severely doubted her ability to think rationally in that moment as she moved forward from the wall, mustering all the strength she could to slap him across the cheek. "We were meant to be friends Tracey." She spat, not bothering to correct his wrong assumption. "How can you be so cruel to me after everything?"

"It should have been me Misty!" he cried. "I love you! I have done since the Orange Islands and I thought you did too!"

"Please Tracey!" she whimpered as he bared down on her, "Please don't do… whatever this is! I forgave you the first time but I won't be able to this time if you don't stop! You'll always be one of my best friends, always!"

"No! That isn't enough! You can't love someone like him! Damn it Misty, I _know_ you feel something for me!" cried Tracey passionately. He took menacing strides closer and closer until he was mere centimetres away from her face. Misty stopped breathing, finding that she couldn't make a sound. Roughly, he seized her by the shoulders, pulling her closer still until she could smell the sour scent of alcohol on his breath. "And I am going to make you feel it again…" he whispered before leaning down and pressing his lips firmly against hers.

She couldn't move. Not least because Tracey had pinned her arms to her sides, killing any hope she had to wriggle out of his grasp, but because in that moment she froze. Even if she was free to move there was no possible way she could. So shocked was she in that moment that Tracey would have the gall to try what he was doing that she could swear her brain just shut off.

The kiss itself was messy and completely one sided. He tried slanting his lips over hers, trying to coax her mouth open with his all too demanding tongue. The only control Misty felt she had over anything at that moment was she could keep her lips pressed firmly shut. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she heard a pair of insistent footsteps racing towards them, praying to whatever God was listening that they would get her out of the mess she suddenly found herself in.

Before she could blink, Tracey was pulled from her and thrown to the ground. Only Ash's quick thinking in grabbing her around the waist stopped her from falling to the ground with him.

Both looked on in horrified awe as Gary began to punch Tracey mercilessly, yelling unintelligible obscenities at him. With a quick glance back at her Ash leapt forward, pulling Gary backwards to stop the ruthless assault. Taking deep breaths, Gary shrugged out of Ash's hold, taking a moment to calm himself. He walked over to Misty, his eyes asking the silent question he didn't trust himself to voice;

_Are you OK?_

She nodded, her eyes still wide from the shock from both the unexpected kiss and the brief rush of violence that followed. At that moment, Delia, Kevin and the Professor came around the corner, gasping at the scene they found. Tracey was sitting up, hand clutched to his now broken nose, both Ash and Gary standing to the side, breathing heavily and Misty, pale skinned and glassy eyed, looking as though she had seen a ghost.

"What the fuck happened here?" Kevin breathed, asking the question on everyone's mind, for once the Professor not minding the language used.

"This bastard," Gary snarled, pointing over at Tracey as though he were lower than a piece of dirt, "tried to force himself on Misty."

"Oh my," Delia whispered, hand to her heart.

"What did you do Gary?" asked the Professor, wide eyed. Both he and his wife looked to Ash and Misty for any sign of a lie; they found none.

"I didn't do anything he didn't deserve." He turned to address Tracey once more, fighting the urge to hit him again when he just smirked. "Don't even bother coming back to the Mansion."

"Gary…" Misty finally spoke in a hushed tone, "Don't…"

"Misty," he lifted a hand to rest at the dip in her lower back, keeping her close. "After what he did, he doesn't deserve your sympathy."

"He's right Misty." said the Professor somberly. "Tracey, I think it would be best if you left the Mansion. You can come back to gather your things, but you need to leave."

Tracey shied at the tone used and the expression on his mentor's face. "Where do you propose I go?" he asked defiantly.

"Be thankful we're not calling an Officer Jenny on you!" seethed Ash. "No one cares where you go, but now you stay away. You've done more than enough Sketchit, now you have to deal with it."

Forcing himself back up, Tracey looked at the disappointed sets of eyes trained on him, He tried to get Misty to look at him, but gaped at the position he found her in; Gary's arms wrapped around her waist, his lips on her forehead, looking at each other with a look of such incredible tenderness he didn't know what to make of it. Forcing himself to look away, he walked away, hanging his head guiltily, knowing he had just ruined everything.

The ride back to the Oak Mansion was conducted in silence. The Professor was still trying to reconcile how Tracey, a trusted member of his lab staff for almost ten years, could do something like that. Delia was shocked, plain and simple, but could hardly bring herself to admit that she had recognised Tracey's obsession with Misty as being unhealthy. Ash, like his mother, knew in the back of his mind that something like this was going to happen, but had hoped that when it did it wouldn't have come to such a violent head. Gary blamed himself. There was only so much he could take from Tracey in the past five months regarding his relationship with Misty, and seeing Tracey force himself on her…he wanted to kill him. Misty was still shocked. She was aware of Tracey feeling something for her, but dismissed it as an innocent crush. He had been such a sweet guy when they travelled the Orange Islands, and even beyond that, giving her his Marill's baby Azurill. Why and when exactly, had he become so cruel?

As the car stopped in the driveway of the Mansion, Misty all but sprinted out, wanting to get back inside as soon as possible. Both Ash and Gary tried to stop her but when she turned back to face them with a pleading look they reluctantly let her go, wincing as they heard her door slam. Nobody said anything above a hushed whisper as they said their good nights and went their separate ways to their respective rooms.

As he gripped the bannister to walk back up the stairs, Gary suddenly noticed the blood on his knuckles, though whether it came from Tracey's bleeding nose or his own cracked skin he couldn't say. He flexed his fingers, wincing as he felt a sharp pain travel through the joints. He gently washed the blood off in the bathroom, wrapping a towel around his hand to stem the flow of blood rubbing the injury had caused. Gary sat in his room for a few minutes to wrap his hand in a bandage, trying desperately to calm down after the events of the evening. He couldn't believe the nerve of Tracey; there was clearly no way to explain it to the psychopath! Forcing himself on Misty as he did, Gary didn't think he'd ever be able to forget the look on her face or her pleas for Tracey to stop.

Changing quickly into simple pajamas of his usual boxers and a plain grey tee, he left his room and wandered the few metres to where Misty would be sleeping. He knocked lightly on the door, hearing a muffled response he couldn't make out. He cracked the door open slightly. "Sorry Red, what did you say?"

"I said you could come in, Gary." She sounded so incredibly exhausted.

He walked in slowly, noticing that even in old flannelette pants and a singlet and fighting back tears she was absolutely beautiful. He walked closer until he was standing in front of her. "Are you alright, Red?" he asked softly.

"I think so." She nodded hesitantly. "I'm so sorry about tonight." She whispered, sounding tired and defeated as she sat back on her bed, resting her head in her hands.

"Hey!" he moved to sit next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "What happened was not your fault!" He could feel himself becoming incensed all over again, wanting nothing more than to track Tracey down, where ever he was, and kill the asshole for what he did. His anger dissipated almost immediately however when he felt Misty bury her head into his neck and her hands clutch his shirt.

She let out a choked noise that was somewhere between a sob and a giggle. "I guess you were right before when you said you had a bad feeling about tonight."

He didn't say anything, opting instead to pull her closer into him, turning to place a kiss on her head.

"Your hand!" she breathed quietly, taking it between her own, lightly grazing the fabric of the bandage with her fingers.

"It's nothing to worry about Red, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? It's not broken, is it?" she looked up at him with fresh tears in her frantic eyes. Gary felt his heart break a little at that look.

"It's fine." He repeated with a small smile. "Nothing's broken, it's just a graze."

That seemed to placate her as she resumed her place nuzzling into his side, nursing his hand gently. "Would you stay with me?" she made the request so quietly he wasn't sure he had heard her right. He looked down at her, her eyes looking at him imploringly.

"Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly.

She nodded and eased backwards until she was lying down under the blankets. "I'm positive Gary. Please?" She asked.

Nodding wordlessly, he eased himself onto the bed beside her slowly, as though he thought she'd come to her sense and change her mind. He couldn't stop the smile on his face when Misty rolled onto her side and laid an arm across his chest, snuggling into his side. As gently as he could, he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her even closer.

"Happy Birthday Gary." She murmured sleepily.

"Sleep tight, Red." He whispered, unable to hold on to the contented sigh that escaped his lips as they both fell asleep.

**-XXX-**

Her first thought was that waking up like this should have been far more awkward than it was. Instead she was struck by an incredible sense of calm, like there was nowhere else in the world she would rather be than in Gary's arms.

As gently as she could she rolled over so she could face him, his arm still draped around her waist. As she expected, he was still fast asleep. Smiling softly she reached a hand up to brush away errant strands of hair that had fallen across his eyes, feeling comforted by the steady rise and fall of his chest with each breath he took. Not removing her hand she moved to trace the contours of his face, reveling in the contrasting textures of his skin from the roughness of his cheeks and jaw where he hadn't yet shaved to the softness of his lips and down along his neck and collarbone.

Suddenly Gary's free hand snapped up, grabbing her wrist to halt her movements, the other hand at her waist moved to trace random patterns on the bare skin of her hip where her singlet had rode up in sleep. His eyes opened slowly, boring into hers. The depth of emotion in his eyes amazed her; he was holding nothing back in his gaze. It could have been a few seconds, it could have been a few hours, Misty wouldn't be able to tell how long they spent just staring at each other, each searching the others' eyes as the temperature around them reached a fever pitch, the movements of his hand never ceasing, driving her insane as it never strayed higher or lower.

"What are we doing?" she whispered, her hand unconsciously reaching to wrap around his neck, twining her fingers in his soft hair.

"What we've both wanted to do for ages now." He whispered back in a tone that made her shudder with anticipation.

Neither could tell who made the first move; nor did it matter as their lips crashed together in a heated, passionate kiss.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN:** Weird little fact, I wrote this one backwards! Anyone else write their stories like that?

Another thank you to Charityx who helped me sort out the utter mess that was the latter half of this chapter. I took your advice but took it in a weird direction!

Didn't have the time to get this proofread, so any mistakes are my own.

So, I have *another* festival this weekend, a 2 day affair. I'm asking you not to begrudge me a line up consisting of Ben Harper, Jason Mraz, Chris Isaak (whose very voice makes me swoon!), Robert Plant, Iggy and the Stooges, Carlos Santana and Paul Simon among others. I have been amped for this one since November last year!

Leave a review! I have a very sexy little (actually it's not so little *wink wink*) chapter coming up for the next update that I'm sure you'll want to see nice and soon, so if I get plenty of reviews I'll write it nice and fast for you all!


	20. Chapter 19: Then And Now

Before we get into it, thank you to everyone for getting this story up to 10,000 hits!

Here we are you perverts! The moment you have all been waiting for; **the lemon chapter is here!** It turned out far longer than I intended, but I hope I kept it interesting! Do you people have any idea how weird it is to be just sitting around thinking of appropriate terminology to use for lemons? Do you? And the hours I spent just staring at the screen trying to figure out what to write…You should love me, thinking this damn lemon over so much, wanting it perfect for you all! Anyhoo, the actual lemon takes up the latter part of this chapter so if you are in any way uncomfortable with sex scenes or under 18 (who am I trying to kid, you'll still read it) just read the flashback. Enjoy, I think?

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Pokemon or any of the characters, that's why I've taken to writing smutty fan fiction with them instead! Poor Satoshi Tajiri…the things I'm about to do with his creations…

Oh, and sex ahoy if you didn't already get the message!

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 19: 'Then and Now'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

_**FLASHBACK – 5 MONTHS AGO**_

"_Why breakfasts as our thing?__ Do we even need a thing?__"__ Misty asked the young man to her right as they perused the supermarket aisles, avoiding eye contact with the many and varied fans that were staring at them both__._

"_Because Red, unless you__ really want our thing to be you getting hammered and drunk dialing me only for me to show up the next day to rub your back while you hurl, I think breakfast would be more appropriate." Gary replied, not taking his eyes from the label he was reading, seemingly oblivious to the stares they were getting. "And as for the second part of your question, I think it'd be nice for us to have a thing. Granted though, there are plenty more fun and exciting things that _could_ be our thing but we've already ruled them out, haven't we?__"__ he added with a melodramatic sigh._

_She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. __"Gary, saying stuff like that doesn't bode well for this odd little thing we have going on."_

"_We're _friends_ Red! Or at least we're closer to friends than sworn enemies. Do you really have such a problem with that title?"_

"_It's just…" she trailed off, thinking of what to say, "It might take some getting used to. I still kind of think I'm consorting with the enemy."_

_Gary rolled his eyes, expecting a reaction like that. "And I kind of think you're being incredibly immature. Are you really going to let what Ashy and I did as kids really dictate your choices now?" he asked, picking a packet of bagels off the shelf to inspect the use-by date. "I want these, by the way."_

"_Firstly," she began, taking the bagels from his hand and depositing the pack in her basket, "I'm not being immature, I'm being sensible. You and Ash fought constantly and you're still trying to get one up __on him, not to mention that even though we broke up, we're still friends. I don't see how he could approve of any interaction between us. Secondly, good idea, we need cream cheese."_

"_You aren't being sensible at all. You're letting petty squabbles from ten years ago tell you who you should and shouldn't be friends with now__." He pointed out as they walked to the fridges. "If it helps any, I don't give a shit what Ketchum might think."_

"_You wouldn't though; you never cared about Ash. And 'petty squabbles' i__s putting it lightly; they may have been petty to you, but Ash was always…really weird afterwards. What the hell was going on with you two back then?"_

"_Nothing terribly important." He replied dismissively__ as he walked a little further down to look at something else. "Just a friendly rivalry." He added, more to himself than anyone else._

"_Friendly rivalry my ass." Misty muttered under her breath as she reached into the fridge for the container of cream cheese._

"_Hey-y-y-y…you're Misty Waterflower, right?" c__ame a male voice from behind them. Misty closed her eyes and mumbled something the man didn't hear about 'asshole perverts' and 'sluts for sisters' and turned to face him__._

"_Do I know you?" she asked icily._

"_I guess you could say I'm a friend of the family." The man answered with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows._

"_An acquaintance of my sisters, I suppose." She replied in a bored tone. Gary just looked on__ from his place further down, astonished. This was what she had to put up with?_

"_I heard you broke __up with that Ketchum guy…looking for a rebound?" he asked in a low voice, trailing a finger up her bare arm._

_She grabbed his hand from her arm and squeezed it tight, feeling gratified to see a look of pain on his face. __"Look, I know what you're after and __I can tell you right now, I'm not the same kind of whore as my sisters were so back off." She punctuated the sentence by letting go of his hand and pushing him firmly backwards._

_The man shook his hand to get blood flow back and gave a crooked grin before replying, "You know, Violet said something very similar but she caved in the end __–" _

" – _She's with me, OK?" Gary came forward and wrapped an awkward arm around Misty's shoulders and shot the man a piercing glare, playing the part of the protective boyfriend perfectly. __"Why don't you back off." __He commanded coolly._

"_You're with Gary Oak?" The man grinned at Gary and laughed before __holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "No harm done, Oak. Maybe you'll be the one to get it done." The man shot Gary a wink before sauntering off._

_Gary cocked his head and looked at Misty with an expression combining curiosity, shock, amusement and admiration. "Does that happen often? In supermarkets?__" he asked. _

_She shrugged her shoulders and continued down the aisle. "Actually it usually happens a lot more.__" She turned to him with an odd smile on her face.__"__I guess you being here is off-putting to them. A little weird now that I think about it.__"_

"_What's so __weird about that?"_

"_I suppose I never thought your presence would be conductive to me _not_ getting hit on." She remarked wryly._

"_Give it time Red and I think you'll find I'm full of surprises."_

"_Oh, I don't doubt that. You have surprised me more times than I care to admit already."_

_He stopped in place and looked at her oddly. "In a good way or bad way?"_

_She paused for a moment before answering. "In all honesty, I'm not sure yet."_

"_OH MY ARCEUS__, GARY OAK! THE RUMOURS WERE TRUE!" a shrill voice sounded from behind them. Both turned, as did many of the other shop patrons, and watched as the…person shed a trench coat, letting it fall to the floor. __"Take me."__ She breathed._

Holy crap, it's a woman!_ At first glance the individual in front of them could very well be mistaken for a man; heavy set, flat chested, with a slew of features that would be considered by anyone to be far more masculine than feminine, she was clad in a red and black bustier and red lace and silk boy shorts with suspenders and tights__,__ and more makeup than anyone should wear__.__ On anyone else the lingerie might be considered sexy, however it was being worn on entirely the wrong person. Gary had to fight to keep from gagging._

_To his side, Misty was trying valiantly to hold her laughter in, as were many around them. The manly woman in too much makeup bore down on Gary with her arms wide__.__ "I'm glad you're having so much fun." He hissed to Misty. __"Help me out here!"_

_Misty sighed and gave him a quick smirk. "Just play along__." She whispered quietly and she __rose slightly to place a kiss on his cheek, the manly woman stopping in her tracks as she did so. "You know," she whispered in his ear, making the overall act appear all the more intimate, "this really is funny when it's happening to someone else."_

_Catching on to her game, Gary wrapped an arm around her waist and turned to whisper in her ear, Misty smirking openly at the now devastated looking man-woman as he did so, "Keep rubbing it in and I won't share the bagels." He replied as his lips brushed against her ear, the small jolt at the contact surprising them both though they kept it well hidden. Gently he pulled away slightly to see the man-woman looking dejected and red faced, picking up the coat she dropped to the floor__._

_Misty and Gary remained in the same position until they were satisfied the man-woman was no longer watching their every move. Pulling apart, Misty couldn't hold her laughter in any longer. "Oh my Arceus, that was amazing! And I thought my suitors were bad!"_

"_Yeah, well…mine don't usually look like that." Gary grumbled.__ "And they certainly don't try anything while I'm food shopping!"_

"_Oh, lighten up!" she replied, bumping his shoulder with her own__ as much as she could with their height difference. "At least it was funny!"_

"_It's still going to give me nightmares…" he muttered lowly._

"_Oh come__ on! Surely you've dealt with worse. My sisters are gorgeous but they lack in every other department, almost as bad as…whoever that was, don't you think?" _

"_I honestly have nothing to compare that woman to. She was almost taller than me…I feared for my li__fe when she went to grab me." He visibly shuddered. "Are we all done in here Red? I'd rather not be here any longer if we're going to keep getting cornered. Arceus, twice in one day, in one bloody trip out! What sort of odds are they?" he asked rhetorically. _

"_Slim ones, I grant you, but like I said it's fairly regular for me and I suppose you've been spotted enough times here for gossip to pick up."_

"_Maybe you should come to Pallet instead."__ He suggested absently._

"_Well, that's hardly fair! At the very __least we could alternate."_

"_I really don't care how we do it, just so long as we don't have to go shopping beforehand ever again."_

"_Look, if it'll make you feel better, I'll come to you next time. I doubt there's as much gossip in Pallet."_

"_You admit th__ere'll be a next time?"_

_She gave a small smile. __"__We'll have to wait and see Oak."_

**-XXX-**

"_They'll be a couple of minutes." __Gary said as he sat in the stool to Misty's right at the kitchen counter._

"_You should probably watch them," she replied warily, looking at the toaster as though she expected it to burst into flames at any moment. "That old thing isn't exactly reliable."_

"_I'm sure it'll be fine." He dismissed with a wave of his hand. _

"_Fine, but you're buying me a new toaster if anything happens." M__isty responded, sipping at her tea._

_He rolled his eyes. "Don't be so paranoid."_

_Silence fell between them, neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. Their eyes were looking everywhere but at each other. Misty stared into her tea cup as though the dregs of tea leaves held all the answers while Gary drummed his fingers on the bench._

"_So…" Misty started awkwardly, "Is Gary short for anything?"_

_He looked at her amusedly, "Yeah, it's short for Garrett. Don't remember the last time anyone called me that, though. Why do you ask?__"_

"_Because there's nothing else to ask." She muttered, swirling the remains of her tea in the cup._

"_Is Misty short for – "_

"_Nope. Just Misty." she stared forward at nothing in particular._

_A few more moments of unbearable silence passed. "What's it like travelling with Ashy?" he asked, sounding triumphant that he had thought of something else to contribute._

"_It was easier the second time around." She sighed. "He was such a…frustrating child."_

_Gary allowed himself to grin. "That he was."_

"_But things were…I don't know, simpler the first time around too. There was so much less to consider." Her voice sounded far off now, weighing the two experiences in her mind but not voicing anymore on the subject._

_She sat there with a wistful gaze on her face until Gary snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. "You still with me Red?"_

"_I__s this what you had in mind when you thought this up?" Misty asked suddenly__.__ "Silly, irrelevant questions, trying far harder than we should have to just to have a civil conversation?"_

_He shrugged. "I can't deny I thought it'd be a little different."_

"_Maybe we're too different to be friends, Gary."_

"_I don't thi__nk that at all. We actually have a lot in common."_

"_I don't know that a mutual fondness for alcohol __and the occasional crippling bout of loneliness counts as 'something in common'. Not in a 'we should be friends' way anyway.__"_

"_You know what I mean Red. Besides, we have similar personalities, and you're the first person I've told about the origins of Cherry. We're both prideful, determined, confident, and you may not want to admit it but you're pretty egotistical yourself.__"_

"_Hey!__ I'm – " she stopped abruptly at the steady stream of smoke billowing from the toaster. Gary followed her line of vision and his eyes visibly widened. Sparks flew from the slowly dying appliance, narrowly missing the fabric of the low hanging curtains. Thinking quickly Gary flew from his seat, turning the toaster off at the wall, jumping when the contents sprung back up._

_He pulled the blackened bagels from the toaster and threw them onto a plate, fanning his mildly burned fingers. Placing them on the bench before Misty, he drew back and folded his arms, silence ensuing once more._

_The sound of her soft giggles made him look up. She had a hand to her mouth, trying and failing to keep from bursting into laughter. The silliness of the situation hit him and he too began to laugh. Moments later they were trying to regain their breath,_

"_Told you__ that would happen__." Misty said between g__iggles._

"_Must you always be right?" Gary asked, still breathing heavily._

"_Yes." She replied simply sticking her tongue out._

_He raised an eyebrow before smirking. "Told you you were egotistical! Stubborn too."_

"_I'm the leader of the Cerulean City Gym; I've earned the right to be at least a little bit of an egotist." She retorted, getting up to survey the still smoking toaster. "I don't think I can keep cheating death with this thing." She muttered absently._

"_I'll get you a new one. You did try to warn me after all."_

_Her eyes widened in feigned horror. "Gary Oak, admitting to an error in judgment?"_

"_Trust me, it doesn't happen often." He winked to which she simply rolled her eyes. "I think this breakfast attempt was cursed from the start." He announced. "Someone clearly doesn't want me here."  
_

_Misty nodded, nibbling her lower lip. "Maybe. It was pretty much all downhill from the beginning__.__"__ She agreed. _

"_Should I go?" he asked._

_She shrugged. "Unless you _want_ to go back out there and buy more food."_

_He shuddered. "Not anytime soon."_

"_So…what do you want to do now?"_

"_I'll go now, but…I know you probably don't want to, this was pretty weird at best," he began as they started to make their way outside, "but I'd like to try this again. I really do think we could be friends Red, despite everything. I'm not particularly good at this sort of thing but I really want to try."_

_She nodded but didn't say anything, opening the front door and walking outside, shielding her eyes from the bright mid-morning sun. They walked silently to his car, paying more attention the the sound of the passing cars than to each other._

"_So, will there be a next time?" Gary asked after__ sitting down in and starting his car, breaking the heavy silence._

_She sighed, smiling slightly. __"You know what,__ OK. I'll even come to you next time." She winked before turning on her heel and walking back to the Gym. "And I won't try to burn your kitchen down either, since we're…friends."_

_He laughed softly after her. __"Smell ya later Red!" he called, giving a slight wave and pulling out of the driveway and down the __street._

_She turned around at the door, waving back until his car was out of sight. Smiling to herself, though she didn't know why, she opened the door and went back inside._

_Regardless of the food itself or lack thereof__,__ the exploding toaster, the awkward conversation or the sheer strangeness that was Gary Oak and Misty Waterflower getting together for breakfast, neither could deny that the experience was…nice. Nor could they deny that they were both looking forward to next time._

_**END FLASHBACK**_

**-XXX-**

_"What are we doing?" she whispered, her hand unconsciously reaching to wrap around his neck, twining her fingers in his soft hair._

_"What we've both wanted to do for ages now." He whispered back in a tone that made her shudder with anticipation._

_Neither could tell who made the first move; nor did it matter as their lips crashed together in a heated, passionate kiss._

Raw emotion surged through them both as he pulled her body closer to his, his lips moving deftly over hers in an explosive, fervent kiss. Her hands came up to tangle in his hair, pulling none too gently on the soft strands drawing a soft groan from him. His hands went around her waist to stroke the exposed skin of her lower back. In a move that surprised him Misty ran her tongue over his lips, seeking the entrance he happily granted, relinquishing control of the kiss to her. Giggling softly she nibbled slightly on his lower lip, biting down not hard enough to draw blood but to sting before soothing the bite with her tongue.

They broke apart moments later, both panting. Gary leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers, a hand coming up to caress her cheek. "Maybe we shouldn't…" he started before trailing off, sounding dazed as he moved to pull away.

Misty brought her hands to his face, turning him so he was looking at her once more. "Gary, you don't kiss a girl like that without making good on the promise it made." She smiled slightly. "It would just be un-gentlemanly."

He smirked before kissing her roughly again, tracing her lower lip with his tongue. She parted her lips slightly, enough to allow Gary's tongue to dance furiously against her own. "Wouldn't want that, would I?" He whispered against her lips before rolling them over so he was hovering above her, propped up on his forearm, kissing her as though his life depended on it. He brought his spare hand to trace lightly over the exposed skin of her stomach. He pulled away from the kiss, the need for air becoming urgent.

"Damn it Red, you have no idea how long I've wanted this." He breathed, kissing a line from her forehead to her chin.

Misty let out a breathy laugh. "Oh don't worry, I think I do."

He stared at her for a moment; already flushed and panting with her hair spread out on the pillow around her, after only a couple of kisses this was already far better than any fantasy he could conjure. Without wasting any more time he began kissing down her neck, nibbling and sucking along the pulse point drawing a shallow gasp from her. He moved to kiss along her collarbone, growling slightly in frustration as he reached an obstruction in the form of the neckline of her pyjama top.

He sat up, straddling her hips, grinding unconsciously into her, drawing deep moans from them both as his hands moved to the hem of her singlet to slowly inch it up her stomach, placing light, teasing kisses on every inch of newly exposed skin, inhaling the soft floral scent of her. He groaned when he pushed the singlet to just under her breasts, realising she wasn't wearing a bra.

"Is this OK?" he asked, his voice clouded with barely concealed lust, fingers dancing along the sensitive skin of her ribs, grazing the underside of her breasts.

Too lost in the sensations she was feeling, Misty just nodded her head, sitting up to allow him to push the singlet up the rest of the way and over her head, flinging it into a corner to be forgotten about later.

Lying back down upon the bed slowly, she opened her eyes once more, not having any idea when she even closed them. The look in Gary's eyes was…amazing; any lingering self-consciousness flew out the window as he looked at her as though she was the only woman in the world, almost reverently, certainly adoringly. He brought his hands tentatively up slowly to cup her exposed breasts, fingers delicately flicking at the pink nipples until they were hardened peaks.

Misty moaned loudly as she watched Gary slowly lower his head to place a soft kiss on the nipple before drawing it into his mouth, alternating between sucking it hard to biting and tugging the peak before gently laving it with his tongue. He continued his ministrations on her, bringing a hand up to gently massage the flesh of its neglected twin. She roughly grabbed at his hair and pulled at the soft strands, desperately needing to anchor herself before she floated away completely. The sensations built and built under his magical touch, but they both knew it wasn't going to give her the release she required.

"Gary!" she moaned, "it's not enough…I need more…" she trailed off.

Looking up again he smirked. "Like what?" he asked easily, blowing air on the wet nipple, watching the little bud harden again before suckling at it once more. He trailed another finger up and down her side, feeling the goose bumps appear under his touch.

"Oh Arceus, I don't bloody know!" she cried, frustrated.

He chuckled lightly against her skin, "Yes you do Red. All you have to do is ask." He teased lightly before continuing his ministrations.

She wriggled under him, arching her back, desperate for more contact to take her to that elusive higher level. "For fucks' sake Gary, TOUCH ME!" she cried.

Immediately Gary pulled back up to kiss her again, a rough, bruising kiss that did nothing for either of them emotionally, but everything for their senses. Suddenly he pulled back, pulling his tee shirt over his head and throwing it over his shoulder. Immediately Misty leaned forward, determined to finally run her hands over the perfect set of washboard abs at last. Quickly Gary grabbed her wrists to still her movements, slowly easing her back down to the pillows. The look he was giving her made her wild with anticipation; messy hair, darkened, lust filled eyes, lips ravaged and red from kissing and an indecently wicked looking smirk on his face.

"I am going to have some fun with you." He captured her lips again quickly before his lips began tracing patterns of liquid fire down along her neck to her chest to her stomach. He drew his tongue across the skin just above the waistband of her pyjama pants, dipping into and circling her belly button.

"As sexy as you are in flannel pyjama pants, we'll have to get rid of these." He murmured against her skin, biting the elastic waist of the pants to pull them down, hooking his thumbs in the band from the back to bring the pants down the rest of the way, leaving Misty clad in only a pair of blue cotton panties.

"If I had known this was going to happen I would have worn something a bit nicer." She giggled breathlessly.

"You can dress up all you want next time Red, but I'm afraid it'll still end up on the floor." He winked. "Shall we get rid of these too?" he asked lightly, running his fingers flutteringly over the tiny piece of now very wet fabric. He chuckled again. "Enjoying yourself?" he asked, running a finger up and down her covered centre, laughing quietly as her hips bucked slightly at his touch.

"You're a cocky bastard, you know that?" she shot back.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know." He smirked, coming back up to kiss her again as he pushed her panties down as far as he could for her to kick off. He raised an eyebrow as he pulled back, staring at the now naked goddess lying before him. "You waxed? What were you expecting?" he grinned.

"I'm in swimsuits more often than not Gary, I can't worry about _that. _And are you always such an arrogant twit in bed?"

"No. Only for you." He winked, drawing a shocked gasp from her as his fingers dipped between her folds to touch her hot, wet core. He drew long, slow strokes from the bottom of her slit to the top, gently flicking the over sensitised bundle of nerves at the top.

Suddenly his fingers left her centre, causing her to moan at the loss of contact. Gary slid further down her body, taking a hold of her foot. Maintaining eye contact he placed a kiss inside her ankle, trailing his lips and tongue up her leg, paying particular attention to her scar, kissing her knee and further up her thigh, getting closer and closer to the one place she needed his touch, smirking against the soft skin of her inner thigh as she wriggled against him, needing something, anything, to abate the throbbing ache that was clouding her thoughts.

"Patience Red." He said lowly, kissing the skin again before coming back down to repeat his ministrations on her other leg. "We'll get there. We've got all the time in the world."

His teasing drive her insane, the feeling of his strong hands, the rough skin of his unshaven cheeks and the softness of his lips dragging along the sensitive skin of her leg, coming so close without actually ever touching her was driving her to the brink of madness.

"Gary!" she gasped as his nose grazed her centre, inhaling deeply.

"Are you ready?" he whispered, looking back up at her as he settled himself back between her legs.

"Yes," she replied, breathing heavily.

He smirked again, grabbing her legs and placing them over his shoulders, leaning down to place a kiss on her lower lips. She moaned and her hips bucked slightly. "I am going to make you scream Red." He whispered against her before darting his tongue out to draw complicated patterns across her clit.

Misty couldn't help but cry out, the initial touch of his mouth while anticipated still shocking her. Her hands reached down to twine in his hair, clenching tightly as her back arched against him. Her entire world was reduced to the feeling of Gary's tongue flicking over her, dipping quickly into her warm core to taste her, never letting her become too accustomed to one sensation. She felt a violent shudder of pleasure as his teeth grazed gently over her.

She jerked sharply as he added a finger, gently pressing into her to massage tight circles on the sensitive little patch inside. The jolt of pleasure she felt was so intense all she could do was whimper and moan. When he began to suck harshly on her clit while massaging her inner wall, all she could do was scream.

"Fuck, Gary!" she cried out.

"No, that comes later." He replied without missing a beat, working his tongue more furiously as he felt the first flutterings of her orgasm. He added another finger and began pumping quickly, feeling her body tense with its imminent release. "You taste and feel absolutely incredible." He murmured.

"So close," she panted.

Her undoing came as he bit down gently on her clit, nibbling lightly on the sensitive nerve endings. She screamed his name in release as her entire body clenched. He continued to pump his fingers through her pulsing sleeve, watching fascinated as he let her ride out the remaining waves of her orgasm, waiting patiently for her to come back down again.

"Wow," she managed weakly, still breathing deeply.

He withdrew his fingers, laughing inwardly at her little groan of disappointment. With a final long, broad lick that caused her to shudder violently, he slowly kissed his way back up her body he captured her lips again, gently coaxing her mouth open with his tongue. She moaned, tasting herself on his lips. They broke apart panting. Gary rested his forehead against hers for a moment, trying to regain some semblance of composure before continuing.

"You are incredible, you know that?" Misty giggled breathlessly.

Gary grinned wolfishly. "I had some inkling. Told you I'd make you scream."

She laughed, "Remind me never to doubt you again." Her hands ran across the smooth skin of his abdomen, along the waistband of his boxer shorts. She sent him a naughty grin that made his heart race even more. "These things have to go." She mumbled before hooking her thumbs in the elastic and slowly inching the fabric down his thighs. He stood up quickly to get them off the rest of the way. Misty gasped at the sight of the exposed length of him. _How the fuck is that going to fit?_

He must have noticed the look on her face, chuckling before lying next to her once more. "See something you like?"

"It's just…um…holy crap Gary, you're _huge_!"

"Always nice to hear." He smirked, licking at her neck, just under her ear causing her to shudder.

Rolling her eyes at his bravado, she shocked him by reaching a hand down to grip him firmly, pumping her hand twice before massaging the tip with her finger, using the small bead of moisture to coat his length. He gasped. "Damn it Red, if you do that I'm going to lose it." He ground out.

"That's kind of the point though, isn't it?" she replied playfully, pushing him onto his back.

She began a trail of kisses along his neck, licking along the pulse point. Taking his groan as approval she continued, licking and nibbling down along his collarbone to his chest. She brought her hands up to lightly trace the hot skin, ghosting her hands across his nipples, feeling them harden against her palms. She moved her hands in small circles, the friction and heat causing him to moan once more. Placing light kisses on each nipple she continued her downward journey, trailing her tongue along the outline of his well-defined abs. Another pair of light kisses on his hips caused another shudder to course through him.

Suddenly Misty stopped her movements, instead tracing a scar on his side. "When did this happen?" she asked softly.

He opened his eyes and looked down. "Training accident when I was fourteen." He replied simply. "Fell from a tree trying to catch something. Honestly I don't remember too much, I hit my head on the way down too." He brushed his hair to the side to show another significantly smaller scar near his temple, close to the hairline.

"Oh," was all she said, moving back up to kiss the scar on his head before resuming her place near his slim hips. She looked back up at him with a mischievous twinkle in her ocean coloured eyes. "Are you ready?" she asked impishly, trailing the tip of her finger up and over his length, feeling him twitch and harden all the more under her touch.

"Ye – FUCK! Yes! But…you don't have to…" he ground out, trying to keep his hips from flying off the bed.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Trying to discourage me, Gary?" she asked, her voice laden with devious intent, bringing her finger to trace the sensitive underside, giggling when he twitched again. "I don't think you want me to stop." She teased, delighting in the panting moans filling the room, confident in the knowledge she was affecting him just as much, if not more, than he had her. She moved to kneel between his legs, leaning forward so her hair fell like a curtain around her face, the ends falling to lightly tickle the skin of his lower stomach and thighs.

"Misty," he growled warningly, sitting up slightly to watch her teasing ministrations intently.

"Patience, Gary," she whispered, blowing lightly on the now weeping tip, "We have all the time in the world, after all." She repeated his words back to him, laughing openly as he fell loudly back to the pillow. She brought her hands to his knees, scraping her nails up and down his thighs, studiously avoiding the one place he wanted her to touch, feeling the muscles tense and relax under her hands.

After what could have been thirty seconds or thirty minutes of what Gary deemed to be excessive torment he sat up and tried to flip them around, only for Misty to stop him with her hands on his shoulders, pushing him roughly back down to the pillows.

With a quick wink she licked her lips and leaned forward to lick at the tip, lapping at the sweet salty fluid collecting there before taking her mouth around the head, sucking and licking at it like a lollipop. She smirked inwardly as she saw from the corner of her eye his white knuckle grip on the bed sheets, hearing his tortured gasps reverberate around the room. The gasps became animalistic grunts as she moved to take nearly his entire length into her mouth, using her hand on what she couldn't take in. She set a steady pace, sucking in her cheeks to create suction as she pulled up, flicking her tongue over every inch of him as she came back down.

"Misty," he groaned as she began to move faster, bringing a hand down to lightly trace the outer ridge of his testicles, her other hand running through the light trail of hair below his belly button, scratching lightly every so often. His pants grew more and more frantic and his small thrusts grew more urgent as she pulled up to move her tongue in a circular motion over the tip, sucking hard as her hand pumped him vigorously. She felt him begin to spasm under her touch, his fingers gripping tightly on her hair.

"Red, if you don't want…I'm about to come…" he groaned, trying to move back, not sure if she would appreciate him coming in her mouth. Her hands shot from their original positions to grip his hips, stilling his movements with a strength that surprised him. She took him as deep as she could manage once more, increasing her pace to bring him to his completion.

Gary let out a loud, shattering cry, thrusting his pelvis upwards against her hands. She swallowed the hot stream of his seed, suckling him gently as he came back down from his high. With a final kiss to the tip she crawled back up his body, nestling herself in his side. His arms wrapped around her, holding her tight, peppering kisses in her hair.

No words were spoken, but both could feel the mood shift as their lips met again in a long, languorous kiss. Time slowed down, the playfulness of before abated to take a backseat while both Gary and Misty took the time to study each other, memorising each and every significant and insignificant detail. He played her body like an instrument, a nibble here for a gasp, a kiss there for a moan, learning what she did and didn't like, delighting in the fact that it was he drawing these beautiful sounds from her and no one else. If he had his way, no one else ever would; there was no way he could go back now, not without her.

"This is it Red," he whispered, rolling them over so he hovered above her. "You can still back out if you want to." Inwardly, he prayed to whatever deity was listening that she didn't. He was in far too deep to back out now but in the end it was up to her.

She brought a hand up to cup his cheek before leaning up to place another chaste kiss on his lips. "After everything already, why would you make such a silly suggestion?" she asked with a grin. "I want you, Gary." She said in a voice heavy with such emotion and honesty it took his breath away.

With a cheeky, sexy smirk he moved to kneel between her legs, lifting them to wrap around his waist, groaning as his length made contact with her hot, wet centre. He looked her in the eyes, silently asking for permission. At her nod, bent down to kiss her again, "You are absolutely beautiful," he whispered, easily sliding himself into her, groaning at the sensation of her soft, velvety walls encompassing him.

He stilled almost immediately, overcome with the most incredible sense of belonging, as though Misty was actually _made _for him. The soft curves of her body aligned perfectly with his hard planes, not a sliver of light between them. In his mind, they were two halves of one whole, missing puzzle pieces; they fit together so perfectly it couldn't possibly be a coincidence. Here, in the moment, with Misty, he was home; home would forever be where ever Misty was.

Beneath him Misty giggled breathlessly, "You know you can move, right?" As though to prove her point she wriggled her hips slightly, the sudden movement eliciting harsh gasps from them both.

Gary reached down and stilled her hips, leaning into her ear to nip the lobe before soothing it with his tongue. "Keep doing that and this will be over before we know it." He growled. He took her hands and held them above her head before pulling out and thrusting slowly back into her.

Misty let out a sharp gasp. She felt deliriously happy and perfectly content as he slowly filled her again and again. He moved his hips in slow, deliberate patterns, finding that angle that would have her crying out and begging for more. A long, pleasure filled moan let him know he'd found it.

"Arceus Gary, right there!" she breathed, dragging her freed hands through his hair, pulling him even closer to her, his name on her lips every time she exhaled. She felt the faint glow of pleasure in her belly, slowly coiling tighter and tighter.

Angling his thrusts he quickened his pace, leaning forward to place hot, opened mouthed kisses along her jaw and neck and she brought her hips up to meet every stroke. With every gasp and moan she would hold him a little tighter, his head buried in the crook of her neck, aware of nothing else but having Misty wrapped around him this way and the fact that it was far more amazing than all his fantasies combined.

She begged for him to go faster and he gladly complied, bringing a hand between them to circle the sensitive bud between her thighs. He felt her tighten around his length, pulling back slightly to watch her mouth fall open in silent pleasure, nothing but their combined gasps and moans and the sound of flesh on flesh filling the room. Gary felt his self-control ebbing much faster than he would have liked.

"Come for me, Misty," he begged as sweat clung to his fringe, falling in wet strands across his forehead. He leaned forward to kiss her lips again. "Let go." He murmured.

Her whole body tensed as she arched her back, clinging desperately to him as she came with a harsh cry of his name, panting as he thrust unevenly into her a few more times, drawing out her own orgasm to reach his own completion, the rhythmic contractions of her sleeve milking him thoroughly as he too succumbed to the white hot pleasure that was erupting between them, her name falling from his lips like a prayer.

Not wanting to fall on top of her, Gary gathered Misty in his arms and spun them around so she was lying on his chest, him still buried within her.

"Wow…" she breathed, her fingers drawing circles on his damp skin.

"That was incredible…" he grinned down at her, pressing kisses in her hair, smoothing a hand up and down her back.

"I can't believe you made me wait so long!" she laughed shakily.

"We were both ready for it to happen now." He kissed her forehead lightly. "You don't regret it now, do you?"

She shook her head. "Never."

He grinned. "Me neither, though you should know, I have absolutely no intention of letting you go now." He warned with a gentle nip to her ear.

She looked up with a triumphant smile. "Have I tamed Gary Oak, ladies' man extraordinaire?"

He smirked, "I don't think 'tamed is quite the right word for it," he replied, lightly tickling her sides. "But you've got me."

She drew as much closer as she could. "And you've got me." She countered happily. They lay there smiling at this new facet of their relationship, perfectly content with the moment. "Say it again." She whispered after some time.

He pulled her back slightly to look her in the eye. "Say what again?" he asked softy.

She smiled, nuzzling into the crook of his neck, placing soft kisses along his jaw line. "You know what." her hot breath fanned out on his cooling skin as she spoke, causing a warm jolt to roll down his spine.

Catching her meaning he flipped them back over so he was above her, planting teasing kisses across her face from her temple, eyes, nose, cheeks, chin before coming back to claim her lips in a kiss that perfectly spoke the words he was about to say. "I love you." He whispered against her lips.

Smiling, she moved to deepen the kiss. Parting her lips slightly she allowed Gary to kiss her into a slow, spiraling stupor. "I love you too." She breathed as they parted. Grinning like a madman, he was at a loss for words. All he could do was kiss her again.

"Hmm…" Misty hummed happily as he trailed his kisses back down her neck, grazing his teeth along her pulse making her shiver. "I think I can get used to this."

"Oh, don't worry about that," he responded, kissing a small freckle on her collarbone. "I intend to do 'this' a lot."

"Oh? And what is this 'this' that you speak of?" she asked coyly.

"Getting you off," he growled, nipping gently at her skin, "making you feel wanted, beautiful, incredible." He came back up to kiss her lips softly again. "Loving you like you deserve."

"You truly are amazing, Gary." She moved to kiss him again, as though she couldn't get enough. "I love you." She repeated.

He grinned again, "I don't think I'll ever get sick of hearing that." Gently he rolled off her, both bemoaning the loss of contact. He drew her close to his side with an arm around her waist. Pressing a kiss to her temple he closed his eyes. "Get some sleep Red. We'll talk more later."

She didn't answer with words, only nuzzling closer to his side, resting her head on his chest to listen to the gradually slowing cadence of his heartbeat, becoming more and more relaxed until she fell asleep feeling happier than she could remember feeling in years, confident in her thinking that sleep would be exactly the same for him.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN:** So, um…yeah. Never wrote anything like that before! But if I do say so myself I think I did a pretty good job even if I was blushing uncontrollably the whole time I wrote it! Also, it is shockingly hard (giggity) to actually make yourself sit down to write a sex scene! And hideously easy once you get into it! And if I got you all hot and bothered…I'm either very sorry, or you're welcome ;)

Leave a review, tell me your thoughts and where I can improve with these kinds of scenes and I'll be sure to take it all on board! Might even chuck another brief lemon into the next chapter if I think it needs it (I don't know if I could drop another 4000+ words on it, though!)

Oh, and everyone have a lovely Easter break! Eat an unreasonable amount of chocolate (because if you can't at Easter, when can you?) and stay safe :)


	21. Chapter 20: Where to Next?

Sorry for the wait, this chapter was an absolute bitch to write, plus I've been having some internet troubles, so this chapter is being posted from a local café with a free Wi-Fi connection.

Thank you all for the, *ahem* _enthusiastic_ response to the previous chapter! I tend to over analyze my writing to the point that each chapter becomes a massive clusterfuck in my mind, so I can't say I was overly happy with the way the previous lemon turned out, but I can't argue with the results; a frickin' thousand views on that chapter alone which is WAY more than any other chapter has had in such a short amount of time! In the interest of full disclosure, **there** **are** **two** **more, far briefer lemons in this chapter** also (couldn't help it, they kind of wrote themselves) plus some rather suggestive banter between our favourite couple, so again if you don't like to read them skip it or whatever, pretend they hands and shared a juice box instead, but I promise you they're very mild compared to the other one, at least the first one is! Apologies if it seems like I repeat myself a bit in lemons; there are only so many words you can use for those sorts of scenes!

**DISCLAIMER: **No bestowing of franchises for Easter either! Most disappointing…and the swarm of ravenous locusts (read; hungry tourists!) that descend upon my hometown each year got all the Easter eggs so there wasn't even any chocolate to soften the blow!

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 20: 'Where to Next?'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Gary sat back on the bed staring contemplatively at the ceiling as one hand traced lazy patterns on the soft, still bare skin of the still sleeping Misty, lost in his thoughts.

It hadn't been Gary's intention to go _quite_ this far with the sinfully sexy Gym Leader pressed to his side so soon. His original intention to simply sleep near and offer comfort after the Tracey incident was surely far more chaste than the reality of what they had done. The moment he opened his eyes to Misty touching him so sweetly, curiously even, any thought he had to leave her there under the guise of maintaining his promise flew from his mind. The look he found in her eyes confused him at first; tenderness, love, mingled with lust and want clouded her stare, it shocked and delighted him beyond words to know she wanted him as much as he wanted her. That one kiss, that first real taste, it had been so fucking addictive it was more than his very best intentions could handle. He was a goner.

But it certainly gave new meaning to the phrase 'moving too quickly'.

While he could never regret the events of just hours prior, he couldn't help but feel some degree of guilt for the manner in which it played out. He had had grand plans for the moment he would ask Misty to be his before making passionate love to her all night long, because that was what Misty deserved after all. His plans had been dashed simply because he couldn't control himself.

Gary groaned and began hitting his head back and forth against the headboard of the bed. He didn't even give Misty a say in the matter! He'd just… taken her! Rationally speaking he knew that at the beginning they had _both_ kissed each other, and Misty had made no move whatsoever to push away or stop what they were doing, but what Gary couldn't shake was that the experience had started out like a night with one of his random conquests from so long ago. The last thing he wanted was for Misty to feel used.

"What are you thinking about?" asked a sleepy voice from his side. He looked down to see Misty looking quite amused, one eyebrow quirked and a small smile on her face. "Looks sort of serious."

He shook his head and pressed a small kiss to her temple. "Nothing you need to worry about."

She snorted derisively. "Don't give me that! Seriously, after the events of just a few hours ago, not to mention the past five months, I'd like to think I'd know you a little better than that!" She nudged his side gently with her elbow. "What's wrong?" she asked softly.

Gary took a deep breath before rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. "Red, did we do this too fast?" he asked quickly in a somewhat strained voice.

Misty sat up quickly, drawing the sheets up to cover herself. "What on earth makes you think that?"

"Well, we haven't…we never really talked about…I mean…ugh!" he trailed off with a frustrated huff, unable to finish a thought. "We never eased into it! We never had a chance to talk about it! I've never had a girlfriend before; I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing! All I'm certain about right now is that when I'm with you, it's _real_. I'm not pretending with you like I used to before and it feels absolutely amazing! But I never gave you the op - " he was cut off suddenly by Misty pressing a finger to his lips.

"Gary, look at it this way; we pretty much _have_ been dating for the past five months." Misty pointed out flatly. At his confused look she rolled her eyes and continued, picking stray pieces of lint off the bedspread. "Not in the traditional sense, I suppose. But since the first moment we met again you've flirted rather shamelessly with me – "

"I DID NOT!" Gary cried, affronted. "I promised you I wouldn't!"

She nodded. "You kept that promise in your own way. You didn't flirt with me like you might flirt with everyone else, there was something different about it, softer I guess. You said yourself that our breakfasts pretty much were dates; since I've been here and even before I came you've taken me out more times than I could count, we were a couple without actually being a couple." She paused to smile at him. "You told me already you didn't regret it, I told you the same. I'm happy beyond words right now Gary, aren't you?"

His jaw dropped; what the hell had he done to deserve such an incredible woman? He shot his hands out to bury in her hair, pulling her face to his to kiss her gently.

"Thank you." He whispered against her lips. "You didn't think I…" he hesitated, "Red, I can't deny my history with women. I tried so hard not to treat you like I did them, but –"

"Gary, if you dare apologise for the manner in which we were together, or your past, I will hit you," she replied flatly. "No, you did not take me like you did them, you were absolutely perfect," she gave a sexy little smile, "Besides, I can't fault anything that makes you that freakin' incredible between the sheets."

He smirked, "Better than Ash?"

She rolled her eyes, "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." She replied huffily.

He moved closer to kiss her deeply once more, taking advantage of her gasp to slip his tongue into her mouth to twine with hers. "Do you need more comparison material?" he asked, pulling back slightly with a mischievous grin playing on his lips. "After all, you were with Ash for three years. I can't expect you to form an objective opinion if we've only slept together once."

She sighed and tapped her finger to her chin in mock thought. "I suppose just the once wouldn't be enough to judge fairly." she replied lowly as she moved closer to run an idle finger up and down his arm.

"Then we've got a lot of research to do, don't we?" he murmured huskily as he leaned over to claim her lips once more in a sweet, languid kiss. "And since this is your experiment, let's make it all about you." Their lips moved gently, almost exploratory against each other, until Gary drew her bottom lip between his, suckling and nibbling gently. His chuckle became a gasp as he felt her hips buck against his through the thin fabric of the sheets, brushing against his rapidly hardening length.

Without wasting another second he rolled them over so he hovered above her once more, kicking the blankets off them to pool on the floor. With a knee on either side of her hips he leaned over her, taking the time to admire her body bathed in the soft morning light filtering through the windows.

Not a word was spoken between them as Gary's fingers deftly traced a path from her neck to her breasts, to her belly button to her hip, dancing lightly on the skin, moving with such practiced, accomplished ease that she was reminded that he was in fact a skilled piano player. She moaned and writhed under his ministrations, tangling her fingers in his hair as he mimicked the journey of his fingers with his tongue, stopping to take a lingering lick at her straining nipple before continuing on to press a soft kiss to a small birthmark on her hip, surprising her with the tenderness and depth of feeling with which he was conducting himself.

His lips fell to hers once more as his fingers strayed back down towards her centre, parting her folds to gently stroke her up and down, rubbing light circles on the sensitive bundle of nerves at the top. He bought her to the brink and up over the edge with his just fingers. Pulling away he watched as she arched into him, her face the perfect picture of rapturous delight, her release punctuated with a cry of his name as her rhythmic pulses continued around him.

Withdrawing his fingers he moved to kiss her again, letting her come down from her high. As her breaths became more even she sat up, running her hands over the smooth, hard planes of his chest and shoulders, moving closer to kiss, lick and nibble the sensitive spot behind his ear she had found earlier. His breaths quickly became gasps and groans as her hands trailed lower and lower, fingers flicking over his sensitive nipples, making broad, fluttering sweeps across his ribs and abs. Before she could reach any lower, Gary grabbed her wrists, grinning as he eased her back down. "Not about me, remember?"

Their next kiss was the sweetest, most gentle kiss Misty had ever experienced in her life. Gary rested his lips against hers with feather-soft pressure, and no movement passed between them. After a brief moment of this shared bliss, she tilted her chin in a silent plea for something more. He complied, smoothing her lower lip with his tongue and drawing a small moan from her. She wound her hands into his hair as his fingers continued to flutter across her shoulders and stomach. When they finally pulled apart for air, Misty decided in that moment that she would never find a man so able to arouse her with just the most basic of kisses.

Encouraging her to wrap her legs around his hips, he lifted her body up to align her body with his. He gently eased himself into her, struck again by the intensity of how incredibly right it felt with Misty around him, doubting he would ever get truly used to it.

There was something almost transformative when it came to making love to someone. Gary couldn't say he had ever made love to anyone. Sure, he had slept around (the precise number of which could never be uttered in polite company) and he had snogged far more than his fair share of women, but he had never made love to someone he truly, deeply cared for. His mind was made up as he thrust slowly in and out of her, their hands entwined on the pillows above them, knowing he never wanted to be apart from her. Her skin was soft and slick, her body athletic though curvy in all the right places, her lips warm and moist against his; she was perfect. And she was his.

Her hair was damp and tangled as they moved together fervently, his fingers reaching down to massage the swollen bundle of nerves. In no time at all he felt the first flutterings of her inner walls as she arched into him, crying out his name in ecstasy. With a groan and another declaration of love he followed her down shortly after, spilling himself deep within her as he collapsed on top of her, their bodies aligning perfectly against each other. Carefully he rolled them over so she lay on top of him.

"Wow," she breathed, unable to do anything but lie completely boneless, basking in the afterglow.

"That's what you said last time," he grinned weakly, smoothing a hand up and down her back.

"I imagine it's what I'll be saying most times if it's always like this."

He reached up to brush damp strands of hair away from her face. "I think I can arrange that."

She propped herself up on his chest, looking at him contemplatively, "You've never been with anyone like that, have you?"

"Like what?"

"Like there was an actual connection."

He let out a deep breath, "No, never. You're the first." He paused for a moment. "What about you?"

"Well, I did love Ash, though I can't say for certain I was truly _in_ love with him. There was someone else too but..." she replied slowly, chewing her bottom lip as she trailed off. "This just now was… different."

"In a good way?" Gary asked curiously.

"The best way." She murmured before ducking her head to kiss him again.

A comfortable, content silence fell between the two; Gary running his hands up and down her back as Misty's fingers traced random patterns across his chest. No words were needed as their actions spoke the words for them.

"We really should get down there." Gary mumbled after some time had passed, hearing other doors down the hall being opened and closed.

"No, I'm good right here." replied Misty contentedly, closing her eyes to the world as she pressed gentle kisses over his chest.

"We need to at least eat, Red. Come on, it's…" he craned his neck to find the clock on the nightstand, "nearly 11am."

He felt her cringe against his skin. "Oh."

"Why don't you go take a shower?" he suggested.

"Sounds nice," Misty yawned, stretching languidly as she rolled into a sitting position. "You going to join me?" she asked in a tone one might use to describe the weather.

"If I did that, I don't think either of us would get terribly clean." He reasoned with an eyebrow raised.

"Shame," Misty sighed, standing up and padding over to the adjoining bathroom wrapped in nothing but a sheer bed sheet. "Could have been fun!" she added with a wink, disappearing behind the closed door and out of sight.

Gary fell back against the bed and let out a deep breath. _That woman is going to be the death of me._ He grinned to himself, knowing he wouldn't have it any other way.

**-XXX-**

Gary and Misty entered the kitchen hand in hand. Already at the table sat a very amused Kevin, a knowing smile plastered on his face.

"Good morning." greeted Kevin slyly. "Did you both sleep well?"

Misty raised an eyebrow at him, sitting down at the table while Gary went about making their breakfast, assembling various ingredients in a pan. "Fine, thank you."

Kevin snickered to himself. "What about you, Gary? How did you sleep?"

"Great." He replied, not looking up from the pan on the stove.

"Hey, where's Ash?" Misty asked. "Has he already eaten?"

"He's gone." Kevin replied simply, stirring his cereal absently as he lied back in his seat. "He said something along the lines of it being too damn weird to stay here, having to listen to that in the mornings, but that he would call when he got back to Mossdeep City."

Misty visibly paled as Gary shook trying to contain his laughter, "What did he hear?" she asked.

Kevin chewed his cereal thoughtfully, "He didn't say exactly," he replied in a tone that indicated he knew perfectly well what Ash had heard. "But he did ask me to tell you that he's happy for you Misty, and that he's going to punch you out when he sees you again, Gary. Of course, I have no idea what he meant by all that." He added, continuing his feigned ignorance.

Shaking his head, Gary carried their plates over, placing one in front of Misty before cupping her face and kissing her deeply, much to her amusement. Pulling away, he smirked at Kevin who couldn't hold onto his laughter anymore. "It's not a secret Kevin." He said dryly. "We all know what Ash heard, and what you heard, hell, probably what most of Pallet Town heard, no need to be so bloody cryptic about it." He quipped, shooting a quick grin at Misty's flushed, indignant expression. "What? It's a big house! Noises echo!"

"How was I supposed to know you'd actually man up and do something, let alone be open about it later?" he grinned, "Well then, if we're being all nice and open and honest, I'm happy for the two of you. Arceus, if I had to listen to Gary whine one about you more time, Misty… I was starting to think I was going to have to sit you two in a room, face to face, and smash your faces together to make something happen."

"Romantic." Misty commented sarcastically. "So, what on earth did Gary have to whine about anyway?"

"Oh, you know; this and that." Kevin replied dismissively with a little grin towards Gary who had frozen in place. "Nothing too interesting, really."

"Oh, I very much doubt that…" she replied dryly. "I'm sure it was positively riveting."

"I suppose it was rather riveting but it's of no importance anymore." he countered, drinking the remaining milk from the bowl and placing it in the kitchen sink. "I'm off then." He announced. "Hot date." He added with a wink.

"At 11am?" Misty deadpanned.

"We agreed on 3pm, but since I have to take the long way around Viridian to get to Pewter, it's going to take me a while to get there." He sighed dramatically.

"Another date with that mindless blonde from the Pewter City lab then?" Gary asked, shaking his head. "I thought you had better taste."

"Why Gary, I'm appalled that you think so little of me," he replied, trying his best to appear affronted and placing a hand over his heart. "I'll thank you not to make wild assumptions about myself or young Hannah," he moved to leave the kitchen, turning back to them in the doorway. "Besides, she's brunette now." He told them with another wink before skipping out.

Gary smirked, highly amused. "Little tool sounds just like me at that age. I don't know if I should be proud or not."

"Tell me you weren't such an overconfident narcissist."

"I still am an overconfident narcissist." He pointed out with a grin. "Trust me, it takes you places."

"Hmm…I'll have to take your word for it. What did he mean by 'long way around Viridian'?"

Gary hesitated to answer. "That's a long story. The short of it is he can't be seen in Viridian, just in case."

"Is he alright?" Misty asked, her eyes full of concern.

"As long as he's careful he'll be fine. I promise Red, I'll tell you the full story one day."

"Gary! I was wondering when you'd come down." came the voice of Professor Oak from the doorway, observing the young couple with a glimmer in his eyes. "And Misty, how are you this morning?"

"Very well, thank you Professor." She answered with a smile.

"Misty, we've been acquainted for over a decade, I think you can call me Samuel." He replied warmly.

She blushed, "I…um…OK?"

"Excellent! Now, where was I?"

"Did you need me for something Gramps?" Gary asked after he swallowed a mouthful of food.

The elder Oak shook his head. "Not as such. I just felt I should let you know that you haven't taken down any data on any of your projects in the past month! It's not like you to become so lax, Gary."

"Let's just say I've been a little distracted lately," he replied, jerking his neck in Misty's direction which she didn't notice as she pointedly ignored the conversation around her, rising from the table to take her plate back to the sink before sneaking out.

"Come now Gary! Taking the vitals of your egg doesn't take more than five minutes!"

"But I had plans today!" Gary whined petulantly, his neck craning to see past the doorway to where ever Misty went.

"I'm sure it's nothing that can't wait. In either case I'm not forcing you, but it might be a good idea for you to get back on top of your research again, especially since the egg will be hatching soon."

"It's just an egg!" Gary whined, "What about it could possibly change at this stage?"

The elder Oak blinked in disbelief. "You were the one who was so excited about all the prospects the egg was bringing you! I thought you'd actually want to keep track of it!"

"Fine!" Gary huffed exaggeratedly, pushing back against the table to stand with a grin. "Since you make such a strong case."

The Professor laughed. "You're taking five different readings at most, Gary. If it takes you more than five minutes then perhaps you should rethink your career choice! Besides, you'll have the whole rest of the day with Misty, so don't worry about that!" he added with a twinkle in his eyes.

Gary looked over at his Grandfather, pushing back the hair that had fallen in his eyes. "You know?"

The Professor regarded Gary with the patented Oak smirk. "How could I not?"

**-XXX-**

"Um, Gary? Where are we going?" Misty asked as she was suddenly pulled back in the opposite direction and led back down along the halls.

"Well Red, as much as I'd love to spend the entire day in bed with you," he turned and gave an exaggerated wink to which she simply rolled her eyes, "My dear grandfather just now very kindly pointed out that since you came here, I've become rather slack with my lab duties."

"But you said your research was your own, don't you have your own timeframe?" she asked.

He laughed. "Ordinarily yes, but I'm on a little bit of a deadline right now waiting for an egg to hatch which should be happening very soon." He turned and looked at her again with his perpetual smirk firmly in place before pulling her closer to him so she was pressed to his side. "Don't worry Red, it's not all day; I'll have my way with you again before the day is out."

She giggled (_Since bloody when do I giggle like a moron when he smirks at me?_) "It still remains to be seen just why you're dragging me with you, though."

"Oh don't worry," he replied with a kiss to her cheek, "I have a perfectly good reason for bringing you with me." Without another word he led her the remaining distance to the adjoining Pokemon lab, pushing open the doors to reveal a large room filled with tanks, small terrariums and more scientific equipment than Misty could correctly name.

"So…" Misty began as she sat on an unoccupied table, carefully avoiding anything that looked even remotely important, watching as Gary went about his business, gawking as he pulled on and buttoned up his white lab coat. "What sort of stuff are you doing?"

"Interesting stuff." He replied absently, not looking up from the manila folder that seemed to magically appear in his hands.

Misty sighed and leaned back on her hands. She waited a few more moments in the hopes he would volunteer the reason he bought her to the lab. She cleared her throat loudly to get his attention again, watching with satisfaction as he jumped, almost as though he had forgotten she was there at all. She raised an eyebrow before asking, "You said you had a perfectly good reason for bringing me here, and as sexy as you are in your element here, could you please share now?"

He smirked and took a few steps towards her, "It's the lab coat, isn't it?" he asked cheekily, tugging at the lapel.

She swallowed as he came closer and closer. "Might have something to do with it, yes." she replied breathily as he reached to gently grip her hips, leaning further over her so she was lying flat against the table. He pushed some papers out from behind her, paying no mind to what they were for or where they landed.

"As big a fantasy as it is to take you right in the middle of the lab," he whispered between trailing soft kisses up and down her neck, pushing her hair aside to get better access to the skin, "And as awesome as it is to not have to hold back anymore, I actually do have work to do, and I actually do need your help." He pulled back with a smirk at her expression of annoyance. He walked to a nearby cupboard and produced another coat, pulling it off the hanger and throwing it at her. "Put that on."

"What is this for?" she asked warily, sitting up again.

He fixed her with a gaze that might have made her weak at the knees had she been standing. "You are going to be my assistant."

"Your what?" she asked blankly, sure she misheard him.

"My assistant." He repeated. "I've fallen behind with my work, and though I don't think you'd appreciate me saying it's because you're so damn distracting –"

"Given how you are with your work, I consider it a high compliment that I can drag you from it." Misty cut in with a wry smile.

"Well then, so long as we're being honest… over the past month and a bit that you've been here you have driven me to distraction to the point that I couldn't think of anything but you and what I wanted to do to you. So," he rose again to take her hands and pull her up from the table, fixing the coat around her shoulders so she could put her arms through the sleeves, "Now that I've got you," he pressed a light kiss to her lips before pulling away again, "And I don't need to while away my hours fantasizing about what I'd do with you once I got the chance, you can make it up to me."

"Why do I feel as though you're about to put me through the ringer?" she sighed.

"I would never ask you to do something you couldn't." he assured with a squeeze of her hands. "I'll just get you to read the data on the tanks for me to input onto the spreadsheets; temperature, salinity, pH levels, things like that."

"And just how exactly will I be doing this?"

"For the temperature readings, just read the thermometer. Salinity and pH," he handed her two cylindrical containers from his desk drawer, "you just need to dip these little sticks into the water. They'll turn a particular colour according to the reading. On the side of the container there's a little chart that'll tell you what each colour corresponds to. Honestly Red, you're just reading me numbers."

"And you need me for this why?" Misty deadpanned.

"Aside from the fact that it makes the job much easier if there are two people doing it, I thought it might be nice if we could spend some time together." he replied sheepishly.

"Oh Arceus, I really have broken you!" Misty joked. "Gary, we spend time together all the time!"

He quirked an eyebrow at her, "You can't deny that it's a little bit different now." he pointed out dryly. "Besides, if I didn't kind of need to do this today, I can guarantee you that we would have gone straight back to the bedroom after breakfast." he added seriously, his eyes never leaving hers as they glinted playfully.

"Wow… I actually did break you didn't I? How else can I explain the phenomenon that is Gary Oak electing to finish lab work _before_ taking me upstairs and ravishing me senseless again?" she smirked and leaned in, pressing the lightest of kisses to his lips in a gesture intended to tease more than anything else. As she moved to pull away he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back to kissed her roughly, coaxing her to sit astride his lap as he sat back down on his chair. He nibbled on her lower lip, relishing in the little gasps and sighs that allowed him to languorously explore her mouth with his teeth and tongue.

"Gary!" she managed to get out before he slipped his hands under her shirt to caress the soft skin of her back, breaking his kisses away from her mouth to lightly graze his teeth and lips along the sensitive skin of her neck and collarbone. "You're the one who said there was work you needed to do!"

He broke away with a groan, pouting slightly as Misty hopped off his lap. "Tease." He deadpanned.

She laughed, "Why, because you kissed me? Oh no Gary, I'm not the tease here, you are. Honestly, what sort of man gives a woman a taste of what he can offer, only to bitch about having to withhold it later as though it is said woman's fault?" she pointed out with a victorious smirk on her face. "Now, how should we do this?" she asked, suddenly businesslike.

"As quickly as humanly possible." He muttered, turning on the computer in front of him.

"Hey, if all we're doing is data entry, why couldn't Kevin do it?" she asked as she fastened the buttons of her coat.

Gary sighed and spun his chair around in circles. "His words were 'I'm not your slave'. Since he's not technically _my_ assistant, he made it quite clear he wouldn't do any monotonous duties for me that I could full well do myself, though he'll do it for Gramps happily enough."

"So you admit you could do this yourself?" she retorted playfully.

"I suppose I could," he relented, "but it'd mean I'd be going back and forth between computers and tanks, I'd probably forget the number on the way back and just swan off to fantasy land imagining myself fucking you against that shelf over there," she followed his gaze to a large shelf filled to the brim with paperwork, smirking as she eyed it appreciatively, "Really Red, it's better for everyone if you're here, keeping me from becoming too distracted." He concluded with a wink.

"I'm starting to see that now." She replied cryptically. "Shall we begin then? The sooner we get started, the sooner we finish…" She moved around the lab, letting the implications of her sentence hang in the air. She observed the different Pokemon dwelling in the enclosures and the various eggs in the incubators with fascinated eyes. "Which of these is the one you're waiting for?" she asked.

He stood and walked towards her, gently grasping her hips to lead her to another incubator on the other side of the lab that contained one large, green egg bobbing gently in the water. "This one." He said simply, not letting her go.

"What's inside it?"

"That, my dear, will remain a secret for now. Suffice it to say she's leading me to a number of discoveries, even now while she's in the egg."

Misty examined the egg curiously. "How can you tell anything about it while it's in the egg?"

He chuckled against her hair, "I can't tell much right now, but I can tell you that the actual shell has become a different colour than it should be, green where it should be blue, leading me to believe that the baby in there will also be a different colour. Not the so called 'shiny' colourings, but something altogether different, an adaptation to the waters of Sinnoh's coasts which the water in the incubator is mimicking."

"And those adaptations are what you've been researching?"

He nodded, his chin brushing her ear lightly with each movement. "With all the changes in the planet, the oceans are probably being affected the most. My original research was the impact on the Pokemon living in those areas, but with this egg I can start looking at the evolution of Pokemon. Not the shifting of their forms with increased strength, but the way they're adapting to survive, the changes in their genetic makeup, how they adjust to the changes around them and why that is. I am on the verge of so many discoveries and it'll all begin when this egg hatches and I can finally see whether a Pokemon who has undergone surface changes passes the new traits on to their offspring…" he paused when Misty turned in his hold to face him with an odd smile on her face. "Something wrong, Red?"

She shook her head. "Nothing at all. It's just…you speak so passionately about what you do; your eyes light up, your body language changes, you seem truly happy. The way you talk about it is kind of inspiring really."

"I've been doing this on and off since I was sixteen." He shrugged. "I love doing this, I love breaking ground, I love shoving it in the faces of the stuffy old men who thought I'd just fade under my grandfathers' shadow, and in all honestly I just love having all the answers to all the questions I asked as a boy. Do you have any questions?" he asked, poking her in the stomach. "You just know I'll have the answers!"

She rolled her eyes at him, "I have always been rather curious about those 'shiny' Pokemon you mentioned. Is there a reason for it?"

"Ah," said Gary, grinning like a little boy, "That was one of my first questions too. Turns out, it's really only a genetic mutation. It could be attributed to natural selection but there isn't enough evidence to prove that, particularly when the new colourings tend to be somewhat flashier and only in some cases does the change prove to be advantageous." He led her to sit back down before continuing, his eyes lighting up as he spoke about his research.

"Another interesting thing is that the 'shiny' mutation doesn't appear to be hereditary. Two 'shiny' parents, while the chances are a little higher, rarely produce 'shiny' offspring. That is part of what has me so curious about this egg. The colour change in the parents was a gradual reaction to the change in environment, and it this egg is the best chance I have to see what changes have passed. Truth be told Red, this egg is due to hatch in about two weeks, and the odds of me neglecting you for a while when it finally does seem pretty high."

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek to his chest in a warm hug, "You've had the dream longer than you've known me. I'd be pretty terrible person if I held that against you Gary. This is what you've worked for, the one big chance. You can neglect me as long as you want if it'll help you with your goals."

He looked at her in wonder, before laughing and shaking his head. "I got incredibly lucky with you, didn't I?"

Snorting, she shook her head, "Shouldn't you be used to getting lucky? You seem to have the best of everything. Ridiculously good looking, too smart for your own good, more talent in those incredibly skilled fingers of yours than a lot of people could ever hope for, you were ridiculously lucky to begin with."

"True perhaps, but I never had anyone to share it with." He replied with an odd smile that she couldn't place. "I can't believe I never asked this before all things considered, but let's make my luckiness official, shall we?" He reached out and took her hands in his, stroking the soft skin lightly with his thumbs. "Misty Waterflower, would you allow me the privilege of being your boyfriend?"

She raised an eyebrow. "An interesting way to phrase such a proposition."

He laughed again. "Red, there are thousands of reasons why you could knock me back and you'd be well justified to use any one of them." He leaned in to rest his forehead against hers. "I don't deserve you," he continued softly, "and I can't imagine a man that could ever come close to deserving you, but I want to try; will you let me try?"

She gave a sad smile. "What will happen when I go back to Cerulean City?"

He looked confused, obviously not expecting that reaction. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean that in a little over a month, I go back home. I go back to the Gym and back to my life before; you stay here and continue your research because it is so obvious this is where you belong. What do we do then?"

"What, I can't visit?"

"Of course you can visit, but Cerulean is a few hours away. Wouldn't it be… difficult for you to visit?"

He reached out to rest his hands on her shoulders, putting on what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Misty, I meant what I said about wanting to try with you. Yes, I love my research, but I'm not tethered to this lab or affiliated with any other, the research is my own and I can do it anywhere. I guess in a weird sort of way I'm kind of like a free agent. I can come and go as I please and who knows? I could be done with what I'm doing in a few months and then I can go where ever the hell I want."

She looked at him skeptically, "And you'd want to come to Cerulean?" she asked flatly.

He laughed again, "Is that really so hard to believe? I meant it when I said I loved you Misty. It sounds cheesy as fuck, but I'd follow you anywhere if you'll let me."

"I love you too," she replied softly, "but I don't want you to do anything you'd regret, I want you to be sure before you start making huge decisions like this."

"Believe me; I've thought long and hard about this, I am sure. I told you once you needed to live a little, take a chance, on me in particular," he pulled her close to kiss her again, "Say yes," he whispered against her lips.

"You do realise this is the second conversation we've had like this so far today, right? Only with the roles reversed. Shouldn't that tell you something?"

"I know what I want Red, I just wasn't sure where you stood. I was worried you'd think I was pressuring you, I had to know what was going on in that gorgeous head of yours." He bought his hand up to push an errant strand of hair behind her ear, keeping his hand there to cradle her cheek. "Besides, I'm an Oak! I'll make it work." He smiled at her. "Say yes." He repeated, just as softly as before.

"What do I get if I say yes?" she asked, smirking as she wound her arms around his neck.

"Whatever you want, whenever you want it." He replied honestly. "That and the pleasure of my fantastic company, not to mention incredible sex whenever you're up for it." He added with a wink.

"Those are some very convincing arguments," she began as she ran her fingers through the soft hair at the base of his neck, "But it was all unnecessary." She concluded, letting her fingers fall as she laughed inwardly at the way Gary had seemingly frozen in place.

"What?" he croaked.

She drew close again to whisper in his ear, her warm breath ghosting over his ear making him shiver. "I was never going to say 'no'."

Before she could move back Gary seized her around the waist, crushing her body to his, kissing every available inch of skin. "That was bloody cruel, you know that?" He murmured against her neck.

"Sorry," she replied breathily as he continued his ministrations on her neck. "It seemed funny at the time."

He growled lowly in her ear, nipping harshly at her lobe before taking it between his lips and sucking gently. "I'll show you funny." He whispered darkly before wrapping his arms around her waist, pushing her none to gently against the shelf on the back wall. Their next kiss held none of the tenderness and promise that their others had held; it was rough, dominating and undeniably exhilarating, all teeth and tongue, absolute pleasure bordering on pain.

He ripped at the lab coat she was wearing, sending the popped buttons flying across the room. He pulled the shirt she was wearing aside, roughly attacking her neck and collarbone with alternating bites and sucks, marking her in ways that would surely leave bruises.

Misty could hardly think clearly; no man she had ever been with had touched her quite like this! She could almost hear her moans and whimpers of pleasure but the sounds hardly felt as though they were coming from her at all. Almost unconsciously she reached her trembling hands up to unbutton his coat, slowly pushing it down his shoulders. Her hands came to rest at the waistband of his jeans, fisting at the fabric of the hem of his shirt. When she began to inch the fabric higher to pull the shirt over his head, he grabbed her wrists and held them above her head, using his body to push her harder into the shelf behind them, his hard length pressing against her

"It all stays on." he said in a way that left no room for argument.

His lips came up to kiss her again, the intensity and pace of the kiss never relenting. Keeping hold of her wrists with one hand he reached a hand between them to unbutton her shorts, using his thumb to push both the shorts and her pale green panties down to her ankles where she quickly kicked them off as he unzipped his jeans and pulled them down so they hung as low on his hips as they could without falling, freeing his prominent erection.

His eyes met hers, his gaze never wavering as he bought his free hand in between them to trail a finger over her hot, wet centre, testing her readiness for him. Still not breaking eye contact he bought his finger to his mouth, sucking it clean in front of her. Misty's breath hitched; she had never seen anything so wildly erotic in her life. His hand reached down to her knee, pulling her leg up to rest around his hips. He plunged into her quickly and began thrusting with abandon, his head resting in the crook of her neck as he moved within her.

After seconds Misty was reduced to a quivering, inarticulate puddle of a woman, the angling of his thrusts hitting places inside her she never knew existed. His lips came to hers again, muffling their moans and cries in an effort to remain quiet.

Misty could feel that knot in her stomach coil tighter and tighter. The delicious friction of Gary inside her, the way his pelvis ground against her clit with every stroke, and the maddening knowledge that he was dominating her in every possible way made her a woman on the brink, every movement bringing her closer to the completion she sought. His thrusts quickly became erratic, his knees buckled slightly and the kiss broke as the need for air became urgent. With renewed vigor he slammed roughly into her, the almost-pain mingling with the intense pleasure until she felt herself snap.

With a harsh cry of his name she fell headfirst into what was quite possibly the most powerful orgasm she had ever felt. She heard him groan something that sounded like her name as he continued to thrust through her powerful contractions before finally letting go, the rhythmic pulsing of her sleeve clutching him to her as they rode the waves together.

Panting, they fell in a heap to the floor. Misty withdrew her leg from around his waist, adjusting her position so she was sitting in his lap. "Everything you dreamed it would be?" she asked breathlessly, her fingers playing with the hair at the back of his neck.

He looked around them, surveying the mountain of paperwork that had crashed to the floor with an equally breathless laugh. "I thought it was going to take way longer to get you on board for that!"

"Can you blame me for wanting to fulfill this little fantasy of yours?"

He ran his nose up and down her neck, nipping gently at her ear. "I'm all for it, as long as we can go back upstairs and get started on some of yours."

"What about the work you needed to do?" she asked distractedly.

"Fuck the work," he growled lowly in her ear, "we can do it just as well tomorrow."

A look was exchanged between them before Misty grabbed her discarded shorts and underwear, tripping as she attempted to put them back on before running out of the room with Gary not far behind, eager to finish what they had just started.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

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**AN:** Yeah, not a whole lot of plot going on in this one, though there were a couple of important bits! This was just another filler chapter and I was short on ideas, so I figured, 'Hey! Everyone enjoys sex, right?'

Another chapter plus an epilogue and then we're all done for this tale! Do try to contain your tears!

Funny story; my mother is one of those middle aged ladies who frickin' devoured the 'Fifty Shades' trilogy like they were Gods' gift to the literary world then every subsequent "You loved Fifty Shades? Then you'll love blah blah blah" book that came out of the wake. She bought a new one the other day and all I could do was laugh. Oh mother, if only you knew what I was writing…

For me, reviews are as good as crack! Feed my addiction! Plus if I go do the math, less than half a percent of you readers leave a review. If you're enjoying this, let me know! Always good to have your ego stroked a bit :)


	22. Chapter 21: The Other Side

Well, here we are! The final chapter (epilogue notwithstanding) of this story! I'm not too sure what else to add that I won't be repeating several more times, so I'll shut up now and just get on with it, shall I?

**DISCLAIMER: **After reading the previous couple of chapters I think we can all agree Pokemon would be decidedly more different if I had my hands all over it! I cannot claim responsibility for the awesomeness that is Pokemon, purely because it contains no smut!

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Chapter 21: 'The Other Side'

**XXXXXXXXXX**

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Misty liked to think that she could no longer be surprised, that she was thoroughly unflappable. She had seen and done things on her trainer journey that could make people twice her age with double the experience want to bury their heads in the sand to avoid, in twelve short after taking the Gym over from her sisters when she was a mere fourteen year old she had singlehandedly completely transformed it in reputation as well as appearance, and Gary Oak, _Gary Oak_ of all the people in the world admitted his love for her, and most surprisingly of all, she returned these feelings.

The previous month and a half leading up to her final day at the Oak Lab had passed far too quickly for her liking, but it had not been without its surprises. While not overly shocking in a traditional sense, the first surprise was one she never could have expected, one that took her breath away for how absolutely touching the gesture was. The second shocked her in a way that made her feel such incredible sympathy and sadness for how completely unfortunate and heartbreaking the situation was. The first of her surprises had come a little over a month ago, when the egg Gary had been waiting for finally hatched.

_**FLASHBACK- ONE MONTH AND 4 DAYS AGO**_

_Since they became a couple, Gary and Misty had yet to spend the night apart, each craving the others' touch like it was air. For a time it was perfect; it would take little more than a quick glance in the others' direction to get them upstairs and into bed where a simple kiss would quickly escalate into something more before becoming the fervent, ardent, passionate lovemaking both hoped would never diminish over time until they would fall into a deep sleep, arms and legs entwined in a loving embrace, neither wanting to wake up until the last possible moment._

_Until it looked like the egg was about to hatch__._

_Misty was being honest when she said she wasn't at all bothered by the prospect of Gary pursuing his research. Why would she be? Like it was her ultimate dream to become Water Pokemon Master (a title many deemed she already deserved) it was Gary's dream to continue his research into Pokemon genetics and continue to make incredible breakthroughs in the scientific world, finding answers to all the worlds' questions._

_However, when the egg was looking like it was about to hatch, shining brightly and shaking slightly with the baby Pokemon ready to emerge, Gary began to wake up earlier, and come to bed later. It wasn't uncommon anymore that they would go entire days without speaking except for his whispers of 'good morning' and 'good night' and his soft kisses on her forehead when he thought she was asleep. He didn't want to miss the moment the Mantyke emerged, either ready to face his fears that there would be no change and that his time waiting and his building his preliminary research had been for naught, or the excitement that there was a change and he could readily pursue the research he had wanted to for so long._

_One particular morning started no differently__.__ Gary, with the now routine whispered greeting and forehead kiss, had left the bed well before the sun had risen. The egg had appeared ready to hatch for several days and Misty, lying in bed in that strange twilight state between asleep and awake, was readying herself for another day in her own company. She didn't hear Gary enter her room again until he yanked open the curtains, allowing the morning light to streak through the window and onto her face before throwing himself on the bed beside her in giddy, childlike excitement._

"_I know you're awake, Red." He stated, __kissing along her exposed neck._

"_Then what are you doing?" she asked groggily, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands, "Shouldn't you be down in the lab?"_

"_Probably__," he replied absently, __kisses trailing across her collarbone now, "but I'd like it if you came down with me, there's something I want you to see."_

"_Did it hatch?" she asked, her sleepy __voice full of excitement__._

"_It did." He answered simply, not divulging any more on the subject._

"_Are you going to tell m__e anything?"_

"_I'd rather you came and saw it for yourself."_

_She rolled over with a groan, effectively stopping his ministrations on her neck. __"__You're not likely going to take 'fuck off and come back later' for an answer, are you?"_

"_No, probably not."_

"_But it's early!" she whined._

_He stood up off the bed and yanked the blankets off her body. In response she did little more than curl up into a ball, groan and bury her face against her pillow__.__ "Come on Red, I've done half the work for you,__"__ he complained good-naturedly, reaching over to yank the pillow from her hands. _

_She glared up at his stupidly grinning face. "I hate you."_

"_No, you don't. You love me."_

"_Arceus knows why, though,__" __she sighed dramatically, sitting up on the bed with a yawn, stretching languidly__.__ When he simply stared at her, completely unmoving, she threw a pillow at him. "What now?"_

"_I've missed you." he blurted out._

"_We both knew this was going to happen. You warned me yourself." She pointed out._

"_Yeah, I know, but…" he trailed off. "I haven't seen you in days Red. Only when I wake up and when I come back to bed at night. I'd rather not ditch you for what's left of your stay but I do tend to get kind of… wrapped up in my projects, particularly when they're new."_

_She jumped out of bed and stood before him, her eyes flashing before poking him in the chest. __"__Don't you dare feel sorry for that! Gary, I'm happy for you that you finally have the opportunity to study something you always wanted to study. You shouldn't be worrying about me when this is your dream! Seeing you accomplish something you've wanted for years means far more to me right now and it should to you too!" _

_Without warning his arms wrapped around her, crushing her body to his in a huge hug. He rested his chin on her head as they fit together perfectly. "What did I do to deserve you?" he asked in wonderment, peppering kisses through her hair._

"_Whatever it was, I must have liked it." She joked lightly. She pulled away from the hug, but his arms remained firmly in place. "__Are you going to show me your little hatchling?"_

"_In a few minutes," he __smirked, leaning in to kiss her slowly, lazily__,__ his mouth slanting over hers in well-practiced movements as though they had been kissing for years as his hands dipped under the fabric of her singlet, his thumbs rubbing light circles over her stomach, drawing a shiver and gasp from her._

"_If we keep doing this," she began breathily as his kisses fell __back to her neck, his tongue darting out to trail over all the sensitive places he'd found so far as her fingers dug into his shoulders, "we'll never get to the lab at all."_

_He grinned against her skin, "Such a bad thing?"_

"_You're the one who woke me up."_

_He rolled his eyes and sighed, grabbing a hold of her hand as he moved to drag her through the door."I guess you're right."  
_

"_Hey!" she cried, yanking her hand away and stopping in the middle of the hall. "You _just_ woke me up! Shouldn't I get changed or something first?"_

_He eyed her oddly for a moment. "I'm showing you the contents of a tank, Red. It's hardly an occasion that requires you dress up." He pointed out dryly, gesturing to his own sleepwear under his coat. "I sure as hell didn't."_

"_So long as it's a pajama party then." Misty laughed, allowing Gar__y to pull her excitedly through the halls, down the stairs and away from the main house to where his newest hatchling was being kept._

"_You ready, Red?" he asked with an excited grin as he poised himself to open the doors._

"_I think I can handle it Gary." __She replied dryly. "Are _you_ ready?"_

"_I can't believe how ready I am. I've been waiting for this for so fricking long." He said, drawing deep breaths, pushing open the door and ushering her inside._

_Misty's eyes were drawn to the far corner of the lab to a large tank. An almost luminescent green streak swam through the waters, slowing to a gentle sway when she and Gary approached. Misty couldn't hold back the gasp that built up in the back of her throat as she saw what it was._

"_A Mantyke." She breathed. "It's green!"_

"_That he is. Where Mantyke are usually blue and silver, and the 'shiny' colouring is just a slightly different shade of blue__,__ this little guy looks to have inherited his parent's obscure colouring, one of the adaptations I was talking about, an almost metallic green__." He bent down so his head was l__evel with the tank, staring at the baby Mantyke in there. "You, my friend, are big news in my world." He whispered against the glass, fogging it up with his warm breath. He drew back and walked over to a desk in the other corner, gathering a stack of files and placing them in their respective orders back on in a nearby cabinet._

"_Considering how important he is to you and what you're doing it seems almost an insult to say he's adorable." She remarked, dragging a hand through the open top of the tank to stroke the Mantykes' back. "It __doesn't feel emphatic enough." _

"_He is adorable though, isn't he?" Gary smirked. "He only hatched a few hours ago, not many other words would do him justice."_

"_Have you told your Grandfather about him yet?"_

_His face contorted into a grimace. "I don't think the newlywed spark has quite worn off for ol' Gramps just yet. You don't want to know what I heard when I tried to knock on their door before. You'd think they haven't known each other for the past seventeen years.__"__ He tried and failed to repress a shudder._

_Misty laughed, "I think it's sweet."_

_Gary snorted derisively. "You're a girl, of course you would. Sweet or not, it still freaked me right out."_

"_I'm shocked there are aspects of sex that can freak you out still." She commented with a smirk._

"_You try nearly walking on on your Grandfather having sex! I doubt you'd take it so well! And Delia… I can't picture her as an entity that has sex! I mean, obviously she has, but she's…Delia!" he finished, looking as though there was a horrible taste in his mouth._

"_Back to the subject at hand," Misty began dryly, "Will your Grandfather have much to do with this little guy or your research?"_

"_He's expressed nothing more than a passing interest, so I doubt he'll be jumping on board unless I ask him to__.__ It doesn't bother me; I tend to work alone more often than not anyway. He seemed proud when I was talking to him about it the other day__,__ though."_

_Misty pressed her forehead against the glass of the tank, watching the Mantyke come closer to inspect her curiously. "Your tests," she began, "they aren't going to hurt him, are they?"_

_Gary shook his head. "The worst I'll be doing is taking a few blood samples and some swabs. Most of the work will be observation, so he'll be fine."_

"_Good, because I really do think I could come to love this little guy." She giggled as the Mantyke nibbled on her fingers dipping into the water. "He really is a little sweetie."_

_Gary came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, watching as she admired the little green Mantyke swim around happily in its tank. "He's yours, you know__." He whispered in her ear._

_She spun around in his arms, facing him with wide eyes and a slack jaw. "What?"_

"_He's yours." He repeated, smiling at her dumbfounded expression. "When I'm finished __with him, of course."_

"_But… I'm… you__ don't…" she stammered unevenly, looking back and forth from the tank and back to Gary._

_He moved his arms up from her waist to rest his hands on her shoulders. "There is no one I'd trust more with this little guy. I remember perfectly you telling me the story of how you got that scar on your leg swimming after a Mantyke and I also know that you kind of need a cute little Pokemon to fawn over. You don't look right without Togepi or Azurill in your arms." He laughed inwardly at the indignant look she was giving him. _

"_Are you sur__e?" she asked slowly._

"_Of course I'm sure!" he said, sounding mildly affronted. "Come on Red, I'm trying to give you something here."_

"_I don't even know why I bother trying to fight you. You're clearly insane; what does it say about me that I try to fight it?" she muttered to herself._

"_Probably that you're twice as insane as I am. Hell, you're talking to yourself right now."_

"_Look, Gary, as sweet as this is, I don't know if I –"_

"_I'm certainly not going to take no for an answer Red, so just say yes__.__ Arceus, I'm offering you a baby water type! Why are you even thinking about this?" He asked, becoming somewhat exasperated. The annoyance diminished considerably and he nearly fell over laughing when he remembered a conversation he had with Tracey that felt like it had happened a lifetime ago;_

"I know for a fact that you have a thumping crush on Misty" Tracey opened his mouth to deny that statement but Gary beat him to it. "You don't go around giving adorable baby Pokemon to girls you feel nothing for so don't even try to deny it."

_"____How much longer until you're done with him?" she asked slowly, not taking her eyes off the tank._

_"____A few months____,____ tops. Look at it this way; He's just hatched, he isn't going to have the ability to take care of himself if I was to release him when I was finished, and since I haven't been a trainer in a good long while I can't really be that for him either. You have plenty of experience raising baby Pokemon and you're probably the best in the region with water types. You're clearly the best choice to look after this little guy so for the love of all that is holy, would you just stop evading the issue and say you'll have him?"_

_"____Yes!" she cried, throwing her arms in mock annoyance as she pulled him into a tight hug, kissing every available inch of skin. "Thank you Gary!"_

___He laughed and returned the hug happily. "You're welcome Red." he whispered._

_**END FLASHBACK**_

The next surprise came in the wake of Gary being absorbed by the new discoveries his research was affording him, cloistering himself in the labs all day to late at night until he'd silently slip into bed alongside Misty with another quick kiss and 'good night', only to wake up early again the following morning to repeat the process. A late night drink with Kevin one particularly lonely evening two weeks prior revealed his fascinating story, his real connection with Gary, and the reason he followed Gary back to Pallet Town in the first place.

_**FLASHBACK- TWO WEEKS AGO**_

"_I was a member of Team Rocket." _

_The confession came out of absolutely nowhere. She choked unceremoniously on the whiskey (unbelievably the only liquor in the mansion) she was nursing, sending sprays of the amber liquid across the table._

"_I'__m sorry?" She was certain she must have heard him wrong._

"_You remember a few months back when Gary's lab over in Sinnoh was attacked?" she nodded slowly,__"__I was part of the team that coordinated the attack." He told her nonchalantly, swirling the alcohol in his glass. He ventured his glance upwards, grinning slightly at the look of utter shock that crossed her features. _

"_Can you… explain?" she asked slowly._

_He leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands as he began to relay his story. "I was… I suppose you could say I was sold to Team Rocket as a child, something to do with settling a gambling debt but I never asked too many questions. When I turned eighteen I as good as belonged to them, it was never a choice I had. My first mission was to act as a mole in Gary's lab, relaying any important information back to my boss who, at the time, was Jason, the guy who was shot that day. I tried to run after about a month because I just didn't want to be doing it anymore but I was caught, had my wrist broken and was sent back, this time with Jason looking over my shoulder to make sure I didn't try to run, under threat of death if I did try to leave again._

"_I hated what I was, and what I had a part in planning. I hated having to deceive Gary like I was since he was the first person to ever show any sort of faith in me. On the day of the attack I drugged him, tied him up in a room and held him at gunpoint. Still he tried to convince me that I could be better than I was. I was so scared of what would happen if I listened to him, of what would happen to me if I was found to be helping him. Eventually he convinced me though, telling me that he'd be able to get me back to Pallet with him at the end of it all, and get me a job here in the lab where I'd be able to hide and Team Rocket wouldn't be able to find me. I untied the ropes on him and the other lab manager Sam, letting them find a way to fight back while I pretended I was still a Rocket, all the while passing information over to Gary to help him get out. When everything started I told them to come out of the room they were in, Gary ended up using his Umbreon to put the other Rockets to sleep, letting him and Sam get around the lab, saving what they could. Gary gave me the Pokemon they gathered into the balls and sent me back to his house to keep them safe. I wasn't there for the rest but you know what happened; Sam shot Jason and the lab went up in smoke. Two days later I came back to Pallet with Gary, got a job here, and I've been here ever since." He made his confession effortlessly, stated it so matter-of-factly that Misty had to question just how well he had adjusted to this turn of events, but she kept those thoughts to herself._

"_Why on earth __are you telling me this?" she asked after a few awkward minutes, her brain still spinning at the admission._

"_Everyone here knows, just thought you should too__ seeing as how you're as good as family to the Oaks__."__ He replied easily, with a quick wink__._

"_No, I mean why are _you_ telling me this? Just because I'm…well I'm not really family like you say but, whatever… doesn't mean you have to tell me." She mumbled._

"_I guess you could say I trust you." He said with a shrug__.__ "I also noticed how confused you looked the other week when I mentioned I had to take the long way to get to Pewter City."_

_Misty thought back to that day, remembering what little Gary had told her. "Gary said you couldn't be seen in Viridian City, that it was safer that way but he never mentioned why__."_

_He nodded. "He's right. Horribly melodramatic, but right nonetheless. He seemed concerned that I might be seen by some Team Rocket truancy officer or something and get carted off to my death for being a deserter. Rocket Headquarters, even after all these years are still maintained in Viridian City. On the off chance that Gary's right in thinking I'll be seen, I'll likely never set foot in Viridian again. Unless, Arceus willing, someone manages to bring them down but I've learned by now not to hold my breath__." He took a lingering sip at his drink, looking for all the world as though these hindrances didn't affe__ct him at all._

"_How are you so OK with all of this?" Misty asked disbelievingly. __"You speak about it so… flippantly, like you don't care at all!"_

"_In my previous line of work," he leaned over the table and grabbed the waiting bottle, pouring himself anot__her glass, "You learn to hide much of what you feel. That said, it's an inconvenience, but it's nothing I can't work around, and Gary and everyone else here have been nothing but good to me." He swallowed the drink in one gulp. "It bugs me a little I guess, but it's a small price to pay for what I've done."_

"_It's not as though Gary blames you for what happened!" Misty pointed out, "There's no reason to play the martyr here."_

"_Maybe so," Kevin shrugged, "but I blame me for what happened. There was a whole fucking year leading up to the attack and I didn't have the damn balls to say anything! It would have been so easy for me to, I don't know… write a note, blink in Morse Code__, __I should have tried to do something but at the time I was petrified."_

"_From what Gary told me abou__t that day," she began slowly, setting her glass back on the table, "you really were a hero. I kind of wish he mentioned you by name when he was talking about it. You got his Pokemon to safety and you saved a lot of his research, not to mention the fact that you helped him escape when it would have been just as easy to leave him there__,__ but you didn't. You did the right thing in the end and that's really all that matters."_

"_You really think so?"_

_She smiled warmly, "Of course! And I'm not the only one, Gary feels like he owes you the world, and I'm sure that Sam guy feels the same way. You might not believe it, but that day you did the right thing, even if it didn't start out that way, and you saved lives. Stop blaming yourself for what happened when no one else blames you!"_

_Kevin simply eyed her with amazement. "No wonder Gary loves you so much."_

_She sniffed derisively. __"What makes you say that?"_

"_You see the best in people." He remarked with a smile. "You see past what they perceive to be a bad thing and you find the good in it. From what Gary has said, he has a lot of crap in his past too and if you're even half as understanding and accepting of him as you are me, he's an incredibly lucky guy to have someone like you. I'm sure he knows it too."_

_She smiled at him. "Thank you."_

"_OK!" he stood up and stretched. "Before this become__s far too emotionally stifling and girly for either of us to handle, let's go do something fun!"_

_She giggled. "What do you have in mind?"_

_"Want to prank call someone?" he asked with a mischievous smirk. "We can send takeaway pizzas to random people or something?__"_

_She laughed. "That sounds perfect." She stood after him and linked her arm in his. "Thank you for telling me all that."_

"_You seem important to everyone here. Gary loves you, I'm pretty sure Delia would legally adopt you if you weren't an adul__t, the Professor has known you for over a decade, and I like you too. If anyone deserved to know, I think it's you." He looked over at her, "I didn't freak you out too much, did I?"_

_She shook her head. "Not at all. A little surprising, yes, but I could probably regale you with tales of my trainer journey that would leave you slack-jawed in shock and awe too__."_

"_After the prank calls." He grinned, dragging her off to the phone._

_**END FLASHBACK**_

However shocking these moments were to Misty, they were nothing compared to the surprise that was waiting for her that very moment.

She was halfway through the process of packing her belongings back into their bags for her trip home later that afternoon. There was a loud, insistent bang on the door that didn't relent until she stood up and yanked the door open. Expecting to find Gary or even Kevin on the other side, her jaw dropped and she found herself at a loss and completely speechless at the person who was standing on the threshold.

"Hi Misty," Tracey began softly. "Can I come in?"

She simply gaped at him, seeming to have lost all control over everything at that moment, unable to move or speak. After a few moments she became aware that she wasn't even blinking at him.

"Misty?" Tracey looked at her questioningly. "Are you alright?" When she still wouldn't move or answer he shook his head and muttered to himself. "Right, of course you're not, how could I expect you to forget what happened?"

"How did you get in the house?" she managed weakly before mentally cursing herself. _Of all the bloody questions you could ask, you ask that one? Idiot!_

"Kevin let me in." he replied, sounding oddly relieved that Misty had found her voice. "I asked him to give me five minutes with you before he got Gary."

"You actually want to see Gary?" she asked disbelievingly. "You do realise he'll probably punch you, right?"

"And I'd deserve everything he'd dish out. Misty, I came to apologise and to try and explain myself. I can't blame you if you can't forgive me, but I need you to hear me out." He looked at her imploringly.

Misty took a deep breath. Despite everything, she knew Tracey would never intentionally hurt her. "I'm listening." She said, sitting down on the edge of her bed. Tracey shoved his hands in his pockets and moved closer.

"I was in love with you." He said after a while. "I'm pretty sure you knew that, though." He added with a humourless chuckle.

"I was aware." She answered carefully.

"I guess I wasn't as good at hiding it as I thought I was. I know it's no excuse," he continued, sitting down on the bed a safe distance away her, "but for a while… I thought something might happen between us. After you and Ash broke up we spent a lot of time together and it was my thinking that we got pretty close. I always thought our friendship would progress more after that. I really, really hoped it would and when it didn't I was upset. I figured so long as you were happy, I would be too. But when it was Gary Oak, of all the people you didn't rebuff when they started paying attention to you… well, you know what happened then. I thought you were smarter than to allow Gary to get as close as he did -"

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Misty cried, turning in place to face him properly. "Why was Gary such a bad decision?"

"I know you're in love with him now, but you know as well as I do that back then there were a lot of guys gunning for you Misty, purely so they would be able to say that they slept with all four Waterflower sisters. Gary was notorious for sleeping around; I assumed he was after the same thing. When you didn't see it that way, it pissed me off." Tracey mumbled the last part, not looking up from his hands that were folded in his lap. "I felt bad after I confronted you and Brock that night in that bar, especially after Brock came and… talked to me himself, but at the time I was convinced I was right, I would have said anything if I thought it would have gotten you away from Gary and… back to me." He admitted shamefully.

"What made you realise you were wrong?" she asked softly.

"Honestly? It was that night at the restaurant." He said with a look of shame crossing his features. "I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for what happened that night, Misty. You were one of my closest friends and I did something horrible to you that night."

"You really frightened me that night." Misty whispered.

"I don't expect you to ever forgive me for what happened that night." Tracey sighed, shaking his head. "I don't quite know what was going through my head. You and Gary had become so much closer than I ever would have thought you would and then… I guess that was my last ditch effort to convince you that I was better for you. I really lost myself that night. After everything, when Gary was holding you… that was the exact moment. The way he was holding you, touching you, the way he looked at you, I finally saw what everyone was telling me was there that I tried to ignore. I finally saw that it wasn't a game to him; he really did - _does_ love you.

"I went away for a while, spent some time back home on the Orange Islands. Like everyone said, I couldn't come back here. I wasn't welcome and I knew you wouldn't have wanted to see me. I spent a lot of time just thinking about things before I finally got the courage to come here today." He turned and fixed her with a gaze that left her with no doubts about his sincerity. "I had to tell you how sorry I am, and how terrible I feel about everything that happened."

"So you should," came a cool voice from the doorway. Both Tracey and Misty looked up from their positions to see Gary leaning on the door frame, his expression unreadable for the amount of emotions showing.

"Gary, I owe you an apology too." Tracey began.

"Damn fucking right you do," He seethed, stepping further inside the room, dodging half full bags on the floor and stopping right in front of Tracey. "Do you have any idea what Misty went through after you were done with her the first time? How about the second time? You were supposed to be her friend! You supposedly loved her! What the fuck is wrong with you? Was seeing her happy such a pain to you that you had to bring her down like you did?" he yelled.

Tracey sat there contritely, absorbing everything Gary was saying. "I've had a lot of time to think it over."

"Oh! So you thought about it, did you? And, what? You thought you could just waltz on in here, say you were sorry and that it'd all be OK? You're a bigger fucking idiot than any of us ever gave you credit for!"

"Gary, stop that." Misty cut in. "He's trying to say he's sorry. Don't make it worse."

"Red, you can't honestly be listening to his bullshit! He made you feel terrible, ashamed that you liked me!" He sat down on the bed next to her, winding an arm around her waist.

"I know that Gary," she replied dryly, raising an eyebrow at his interpretation of the situation. "But I know he's being truthful."

"And you're just going to forgive him?" he looked at her disbelievingly.

"I never said that," she turned to face Tracey again who had paled considerably in Gary's presence. "Tracey, I accept your apology and thank you for it, but I can't forgive you yet. You made me feel like I was going insane for feeling the way I did and at the restaurant that night…" Gary's arms tightened around her, "You scared me and you took advantage of me. When I feel ready to forgive you I'll let you know."

Tracey nodded mutely, standing quietly and heading out the door. "Despite everything," he started, lingering in the doorway, "I am happy for you now Misty, even if it never seemed like I was. I'll always want you to be happy."

She hid a tiny smile. "Thank you Tracey." He nodded once and smiled sadly before walking away.

"You're too nice for your own good." Gary remarked once they no longer heard Tracey's footsteps.

"I'm pretty sure you can hate him enough for the both of us." She smirked, sliding off the bed to sit back on the floor.

He chuckled lightly. "I am good at holding grudges." He surveyed the mess of clothes and bags around them and sighed. "Are you sure you don't want me to take you back? It's not a problem."

"The bus is fine Gary. Besides it's too late for you to leave now; you'd be getting back to Pallet well past midnight and I don't want you to lose more time than you need to."

He nodded, not so much in understanding but acceptance. "I really wish you didn't have to go. How will you get by without waking up to this handsome face each day?"

"And here I thought we were past the incessant flirting," she replied wryly.

"Never." He shook his head with a smile, "It's too much fun not to."

"Anyway," she rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, "your work is nearly out of that busy stage now, so I'll be able to visit and so will you, and when you've taken it as far as it can go, who knows? We can go anywhere we want."

"It shouldn't be too long Red, don't worry." He responded, chuckling lightly to himself.

"What's so funny?"

"Sometimes I just listen to myself; I can hardly believe it's me that I'm hearing. I'm still having trouble believing how much my outlook has changed since meeting you again."

"You're still the same Gary Oak where it counts. I've never met anyone more absurdly self-assured and you'll always be quite the egotist."

"So long as I'm not entirely lost then, I'm fairly certain it was that charming arrogance that got you to fall for me in the first place." He watched as she kneeled back down on the ground to resume her packing. She was in the middle of folding a shirt when he leaned forward to pick up a particularly tiny scrap of red lace. "Why haven't I seen these before?" he asked in poorly feigned anger.

"You did." Misty muttered to herself. "About a week ago, for about five seconds before they were on the floor."

"Was that the same night you wore these?" he asked, moving across the room to pick up a pair of black stilettos. "Because I distinctly remember these staying on."

"Same night." She confirmed with a smirk. "And you insisted they stay on! Not my fault you can't appreciate a good pair of underwear."

"But I appreciate what's under them just fine." He replied huskily, kneeling down next to her to press a gentle kiss to her lips.

"Don't you have work you should be doing?" she asked, pressing her hands to his chest to push him away as his hands fell to her hips, fingers playing with the belt loops on her jeans.

"Nothing that can't wait."

"You've told me on many an occasion that your work can't wait."

"I've learned to make concessions where needed."

"And I've made enough concessions for you and your libido. Now go away, let me finish packing. You're a walking distraction."

Laughing, he pressed another quick kiss to her cheek before hopping up and leaving the room. He lingered in the doorway for a few moments to watch her pack her bags, folding clothes into like groups, colour coordinating her underwear, wrapping a glass bottle of perfume he bought her the month previous in a soft wisp of fabric he recognised as a scarf to prevent it from breaking. Her little routine was absolutely adorable. Shaking his head slightly, he left the room to return to the lab, wondering just how he was going to go the next few months without her, the woman he now irrevocably believed to be the love of his life. Gary found himself wonderfully accustomed to waking up and falling asleep beside her, eating with her, walking with her, their spirited discussions that continued late into the night, the feel of her body pressed against his, everything about Misty Waterflower had been indelibly etched upon his brain.

**-****XXX-**

Misty had made up her mind on the trip home that her first moments back in Cerulean City would be spent on the shores of the beach. There was someone she needed to talk to before she did anything else. The bus trip back had left her feeling horribly depressed; she hated feeling like such a stereotype, missing Gary from the moment he was out of view, there was only one person she could talk to about that. As soon as her bus pulled into the Cerulean City station she all but ran to the Gym, throwing her bags inside the door with only a modicum of regard for the contents. She followed the ever familiar path behind the Gym, taking in the sea breeze and the glittering of the ocean in the late afternoon light.

Taking off her shoes and carrying them on her index and middle fingers, Misty walked through the soft sand of the Cerulean Bay until she reached the shoreline, walking through the shallow water as the tide rose and fell around her feet, displacing the sand around her. How long she walked she did not know. Only when the sun began to set in a spectacular explosion of vivid pinks, oranges, reds and yellows did she sit down to admire the view.

"Hello Marina," she spoke softly, "it's been a while." Only the sounds of the small waves gently crashing along the shore answered her.

"I can't believe it's only been three and a half months since you… since it happened. It sometimes seems like a lifetime ago. So often I had to remind myself that you aren't here anymore. There have been so many moments over the past few weeks where I would have given anything to talk to you again. You always were… insightful." She giggled slightly to herself.

"I'll bet you're laughing it up where ever you are now. You called it that very first day he came to the Gym and I denied it to the letter, yet here I am now, in love with the guy, already missing him like crazy." She sniffed, wiping her quickly tearing eyes on the sleeve of her shirt.

"I can't even begin to describe how happy he makes me," she sighed, "you were right about him, about me. You always talked to me about every single one of your little one night stands, male or female, whether I wanted to hear about it or not, and now that I'm actually in a position to return the favour, well it's not very polite to be talking about my sex life to the air at a public beach where there are children everywhere. Suffice it to say it's incredible. One day I'll share the details.

"I miss you so much Marina. Whenever I had a bad day, or when I had good news or hell, even for no reason at all you were always the first person I would talk to. For a long while after, I was kind of lost. I had Ash, Brock and even Gary, but they weren't you.

"You're Pokemon are well taken care of. Since I've been gone they stayed at the Gym being looked after by the assistants there. I hope they're happy here, but I don't think I can use them as my own. They were yours and I feel like I have to respect that.

"Sometimes I feel like I moved on too quickly but I need you to know, I never once forgot about you. Whenever I felt low there was always a voice in the back of my mind that sounded like you telling me to smile more and the rest would fall into place. You would do everything short of moving heaven and earth for me to smile Marina, and I felt like it would be the biggest insult of all to your memory if I let myself wallow in my own misery. Everything I'm doing at the moment is making me happy, and I'm trying so hard to make you happy too. I'll always miss you Marina. No matter what happens, no matter where I go, you will always be one of my very best friends."

The sky began to grow dark and the light of a million stars rained down. Misty hugged her knees to her chest and rocked in place, unsure of what to say next, unsure of what she expected to happen next. A gust of warm breeze came from nowhere, enveloping her with an oddly comforting presence. If she focused just right, the breeze even smelled like Marina, wildflowers and orange blossoms.

"There you are, Red!"

"Gary!" she whispered, shocked. "What are you doing here?" she asked as he sat down beside her.

"Sitting on a beach."

"Thank you Captain Obvious, where would I be without your incredible perception?" she retorted dryly. "Why are you here?"

"I'm not sure. Something called to me."

"Do you enjoy talking me in circles with your riddles?"

He smirked and gave an odd look, as though he was trying to piece his answer together. "It was a strange feeling; I'm not too sure what it was but it kind of felt like you needed me for... something, so I started driving about an hour after your bus left." He turned to face her with a smirk still on his face. "That and the temptation of one more uninterrupted night with you was too much to pass up!"

She sighed heavily in mock annoyance. "I should have known it was just about the sex!"

"That and the weird feelings!" he reached a hand to the space in between them and laced their fingers together. "What are you doing out here anyway? Isn't this where…" he looked around, trying to get his bearings in the vaguely familiar setting.

"Yeah, it's where we had Marina's funeral. I kind of wanted to talk to her, I guess."

"Did you get your answers?" he asked softly.

"I wasn't really after answers." She shrugged. "I kind of have everything I need already. I just wanted to talk. I haven't had anyone to talk to about… everything. Do the whole gossipy-girly thing."

He took a deep breath, trying to gather the words he needed in his mind. "I know the past few months have been… bad for you. Between everything with Marina and Tracey it's a wonder you came out the other side as well as you did." he whispered, his voice barely audible over the crashing waves, "I've always lived by the belief that life isn't worth living without a little bit of chaos, but we've had more than our share of chaos lately," He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer so he could whisper in her ear, the warmth of his breath on her skin contrasting with the cool breeze causing her to break out in goose-bumps. "I can't promise that the chaos is over, but I can promise that when we're faced with it again, we're facing it together. I've got you Red and I have no intention of letting go."

What could she say to that? Instead of speaking she leaned forward, Gary meeting her halfway to capture her lips with hers. He parted his mouth slightly to cradle her bottom lip between his, running his tongue lightly across it. The kiss quickly became more heated and passionate, her mouth opening to slant over his, her arms lifting to wrap around his neck where her fingers played with the ends of his hair.

They pulled away from the kiss breathless, knowing that it would escalate to something more if they let it go on any longer. Neither moved from their position, hands remaining firmly in place.

"I love you." Misty murmured against his mouth, his lips moving along with hers as she spoke.

He smiled against her, drawing her back in for another chaste kiss. "I love you too."

"When do you have to go back?"

"I'll have to go tomorrow, but we have tonight, and I'm not going anywhere."

They remained still and silent for a long while. Misty leaned into Gary to rest her head on his shoulder where his arm wound around her waist once more. They simply sat in the sand, the light of the moon and stars shining down on them and illuminating the ocean until it shimmered beautifully with the soft light reflected in its surface. Words were no longer needed, their actions spoke so much more. The journey of the past five months had led them to this moment of sheer perfection and in spite of all the problems that had plagued them up to this point, neither could claim that where they were now wasn't worth the ride in the end.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

**AN: **Oh Lawd, I hope this wasn't too cheesy!You know, when I first started writing this I swore to myself it wouldn't become soap opera-ish. Guess I stuffed that up!

Hang out for the epilogue in the next few days. It's already partly written so with any luck it shouldn't take too long.

Leave a review! I want to know all your secrets, and maybe your thoughts on how the story has wrapped if you're feeling generous!


	23. Epilogue

Sorry this took so long! I didn't feel right about writing this on ANZAC Day, so I lost a day of writing before coming back to wrap it up, and as I got further in it became a little harder to write, plus I'm still having a bitch of a time with my internet and couldn't get it uploaded as soon as I would have liked and I know it's short but really the story is already over, I'm just setting up the next one and I've hurt my wrist and I'm just full of excuses today! So, without further ado, I present to you the final installment of 'Sweeping the Sensational Set' :)

**DISCLAIMER: **Well, here we are, at the end of the line, and I appear to be fresh out of witty disclaimers! You might think after bitching about not owning Pokemon for so long someone might just give me something to shut me up but alas, no; that has not happened!

'Sweeping the Sensational Set'

Epilogue

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

_**FOUR MONTHS LATER**_

_This is complete and utter HELL._

With a fake smile plastered to his face and a drink in his hand Gary weaved through the crowd of people currently making themselves very comfortable indeed in the sprawling backyard of the Oak Mansion, trying to find a dark, secluded corner to just while away the hours until his _darling_ girlfriend of almost six months saw fit to grace him with her presence once more (and she was going to pay _dearly_ for leaving him in this crowd on his own, whether it had been his own fault or not). He couldn't bring himself to give two fucks for the people swanning about the grounds as though they were the ones that in fact owned it, except perhaps for the one person besides him who could potentially lay a claim to it.

"Is she here yet?" May asked as she bounded excitedly up to him. Gary sat down and leaned back against a large tree at the back of the yard, well out of view of the rest of the party and shook his head, taking a sip of his drink.

"Not yet. Keep your knickers on sis; I know you're eager but from Cerulean to here is a pretty long drive."

"Not that that puts you off," she laughed. "You were with her most of the day, yeah? Why didn't you just stay with her instead of making her drive here on her own? I could have put the rest this together on my own!"

Gary chuckled disbelievingly, "May, you're my sister and I love you, but you couldn't put together a piss-up in a brewery, not to mention the fact that you couldn't assemble the marquee if your life depended on it. You're lucky I let you send the invitations out to the biggest bunch of wankers this side of Kanto."

May huffed and plopped down ungracefully beside him. "Well, it's not like I made the guest list, no need to make it sound like it's my fault," she told him before turning to eye her brother with a smirk. "You look like such a hermit; sitting here alone in the dark, trying to avoid them all."

"I've got a bit of a reputation in that circle," he replied dryly as he ran his free hand through his hair. "I might have _kind of_ made nice with Ashy boy but the rest of them don't know that."

"You don't want them to?" she asked curiously.

Gary waved his hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter. I have nothing against his little gang but I don't really give a toss about them either." He sighed. "How in the hell did every one of Ash's hangers' on over the years get an invite to Gramps and Delia's little party anyway?"

May laughed. "Before I continue, I'd like to point out that your girlfriend was a major player in Ash's band of 'hangers' on' as you so like to call them." She elbowed him in the ribs to which he playfully shoved her. "Come on Gaz, it's their first year anniversary party, they probably would have wanted to invite the whole neighbourhood anyway! And Arceus knows you don't want to derail Delia when she has something in mind! Over the years she as good as adopted all those kids!"

Gary simply sighed resignedly in response, falling back against the tree and closing his eyes.

"You are such a party pooper now; it's the one thing about you I think I'm going to miss." May bemoaned as she picked herself up from the ground, dusting the dirt off her skirt and smoothing the wrinkles. "You can't sit here all night. They'll be serving dinner soon, and Misty won't be able to find you all the way out here. Just suck it up and mingle! I'm sure they've forgiven you for being such an ass when you were a kid."

Gary glared at her, "I don't care what they think of me. They're all so… annoying."

It was May's turn to sigh as she turned to walk away, "Well, if you ever decide to turn on the Oak charm and socialise for a little while, we'll be waiting."

"I spent a solid half hour 'socialising' with those tools already; I've done my part, now you can be the Oak family spokesperson. And can you send Misty over here when she arrives?" he called after her, sliding down the tree to lie on the ground to observe the night sky, smoothing the fabric of his shirt and suit jacket across his taut stomach.

May rolled her eyes as she turned back towards the party. "I'm never going to get a proper introduction to this girl, am I?" she muttered under her breath as she walked away. In the distance he could hear her laughter carry on the breeze as she found her sons and husband and rejoined the party.

Gary relaxed into the soft ground, crossing his arms behind his head in an effort to cushion his head. He sighed, thankful that his research was, for the most part, over. In the end, his work with the green Mantyke hadn't yielded the results he wanted; the Mantyke was sensitive to the changes in the water within the egg and changed spontaneously as its parents had. There was no genetic change passed down to the hatchling; everything that had happened was purely instinctual. And because the green Mantyke was the only one of its kind bar its parents, there was no way he could begin to try and breed the genetic changes into the line, and Misty was so happy when he finally gave it to her. Still though, he couldn't find it in himself to become depressed at the lack of results; it was his scientific, curious mind that drove him to find answers in everything, and even if they weren't the answers he wanted to find, at least he found something. Besides, now it gave him time to work on his new project…

"Your sister is… interesting."

Gary smirked to himself, 'interesting' was one way of putting it. "What makes you say that?"

"If she hadn't told me she was your sister I might have needed to ask for a restraining order, she was very enthusiastic with the hugging and hair pulling," Misty said with a slight grimace on her face as she came into view. He felt his breath hitch in his throat as he drank her form in, "You look absolutely beautiful." He told her hoarsely.

She giggled lightly, brushing an errant strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear. "Thank you. You look rather handsome yourself." _If by 'rather handsome' we mean so sinfully sexy it should be illegal for you to leave the house in that suit._ She moved to lie down beside him. "What on earth are you doing all the way out here anyway?"

"Can't say I'm in the mood to mingle with that group at the moment," he replied, shrugging as best he could in his supine position, grinning over at her.

"Ugh, tell me about it!" she groaned, wriggling closer to rest her head on his arm. "Every damn person Ash ever did anything with is there." She sighed before continuing, "Sometimes his ability to makes friends with anything that breathes pisses me off."

He laughed, "I can't argue with you on that one." he said as he adjusted his arm behind her head to wrap around her waist instead to pull her closer. Their conversation dissolved into hushed whispers as their eyes drifted heavenwards, Misty pointing out different constellations that were visible that night. Turning his head to press a gentle kiss to her temple, he ducked his mouth to her ear, "How do you know so much about the stars?"

She smiled softly, "Stars have always fascinated me. In the time it took for their light to get here, they died. Those stars you can see no longer exist. Looking up at them now, I've always felt like it was looking back in time. One day, I just wanted to know all about them, so I taught myself the names, history, the mythology behind the different constellations, everything. Even now, I still love just sitting and staring at the sky, it's relaxing."

"It is," he agreed quietly, "I never knew the proper constellations or their names, I used to just play 'connect the dots' and hope a shape would appear. That, and when I was little my sister used to tell me our parents were in the stars; I guess I took that sort of literally for a little while." Silence fell between them once more as Misty simply held him tighter. "I think that Dawn girl still has a little crush on me," he said, changing the subject suddenly. He smiled inwardly when he felt her tense beside him.

"Dawn has a crush on you?" she repeated slowly. "And what the hell do you mean, _still_?"

"Not jealous are you Red?" he asked with a grin.

She snorted derisively, "Of Dawn and her silly little infatuation with you? Of course not!"

"If it makes you feel better we can go make out in front of her later? It'll certainly make me feel better!" he suggested with a smirk.

Misty giggled despite herself, "Why not just do it now where no one is watching or telling us to stop?" she whispered, squealing when Gary rolled her over to lie on top of him.

"I like the way you think Red," he whispered before bringing a hand up to her neck, pulling her lips to his, grinning into the kiss as he heard her sigh happily before tracing his tongue lightly across her lower lip in an effort to deepen the kiss which she gladly obliged. They pulled apart moments later when the lack of air became an issue.

"Are you sure you want to tell them tonight?" she asked softly, burying her nose in his neck.

"They'll find out soon enough," he laughed, rolling them onto their sides, bringing a hand to rest on her waist. "Why not tell them now?"

"It's your Grandfather and Delia's anniversary dinner!" she all but shrieked, "I don't want to steal their thunder with our own news!"

"If you really don't want to tell them yet we don't have to, but it'll be painfully obvious when –"

"What on earth are you two doing out here?" Ash suddenly appeared at their side, Brock following a few steps behind, watching the intertwined couple on the ground with a knowing smile. "Why aren't you at the party?"

Gary groaned lightly and rolled onto back, his head hitting the ground with a soft thud. "Because I can't be fucked while I know you're there Ashy, that's why."

"I was just about to make him go back." Misty told them, smirking slightly as Brock snorted disbelievingly, muttering 'sure you were' quietly under his breath.

Ash shook his head, ignoring them both. "Well, May told me to come get you guys; she said dinner was just about ready and something about still wanting a proper introduction. Apparently I can't leave you alone until you go back otherwise she'll hit me again," he rubbed his shoulder, "and she hits hard."

Gary and Misty looked at each other resignedly and simultaneously let out a deep breath before he got to his feet, extending a hand to help her back up, dusting her back to rid her of the dirt that still clung to her dress. "Fine, we'll go back." He grumbled, linking his hand with Misty's and leading her back to the party without another word or so much as a glance back, leaving Ash and Brock standing under the large tree in the dark.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't get them." Ash said, shaking his head.

Brock laughed and clapped the younger man on the shoulder. "It feels as though we've had this conversation a thousand times before; they're happy, they've been together for a while, that's all there is to it. Don't question it."

Ash smiled wryly, "There's something going on with them."

Brock looked down at Ash curiously, "Like what? And how on earth can you possibly tell?"

"I know them. And I'm not sure, but something's up with them; they seem… " He shrugged, losing his trail of thought. "I guess we'll have to find out."

Brock shook his head, "No, there will be no 'we' Ash! Don't drag me into your crazy schemes; you did that enough when we were kids!"

"_Please _Brock! I know you care about Misty just as much as I do! And it's not a crazy scheme anyway; I just want you to listen to them."

Brock sighed and ran a hand down his face, "You want me to eavesdrop? Seriously Ash, why is this so important?"

"Weren't you listening when we came up to them? _Something _will be 'painfully obvious'!"

Brock chuckled slightly, "You're too paranoid."

"Maybe you aren't paranoid enough!"

"I'm almost positive it's nothing to worry about! If there is something, I'm sure they'll tell us. It's not like Misty to keep things from us."

"Exactly why I'm worried about… just whatever the hell this might be!"

"Fine!" he sighed dejectedly, eyeing Ash warily, "But I still think you're being stupid about this."

Ash grinned, "You know I'm right."

**-****XXX-**

"Misty, this is my sister May. May, this is my girlfriend Misty." Gary said lazily, gesturing between the women. He watched with wide eyes as May's hand shot out to grasp Misty's tightly. He didn't know whether or not he should intervene when Misty actually began to wince; though whether it was from the pain of the tight hold or May's inexplicably high pitched voice as she gushed he didn't know.

May giggled airily. "It is so nice to finally meet you properly Misty! I can't believe he just called you his girlfriend!"

"Well, considering how often she and I make out it would be weird to refer to her as anything else!" he retorted, mouthing 'what?' when Misty elbowed him in the ribs, eyeing him as though he were crazy.

May's eyes narrowed slightly, "Unless we count the little girl who lived next door to us when you were three, you've never referred to any girl like that."

"Girl next door when you were three?" Misty asked slyly, looking over at May questioningly as Gary groaned and dragged a hand down his face.

"Oh, it was the most adorable little thing I've ever seen! Her name was Charlotte, and little Gary was…" she grabbed Misty's arm and led her away from Gary, both girls whispering conspiratorially and giggling to themselves as they walked, leaving him standing with a comically shocked expression in the middle of the party.

"That," he muttered to himself, "is exactly what I was afraid of."

"What are you afraid of?" Ash asked from behind him.

"Misty and my sister, suddenly the very best of friends even though threats of a restraining order were made not ten minutes ago." He rolled his eyes, pouring another drink from a nearby bottle on a food table. "You following me or something Ash? You got me back here, she isn't going to slap you again, but I might if you keep sneaking up on me."

"No, I just happened to be walking this way," he shuffled in place for a moment, falling back into the old habit of rubbing his neck nervously. "What's up with you and Misty?"

"What are you talking about Ash?" Gary asked coolly, not even bothering to make eye contact with his old rival.

"I can always tell when Misty is hiding something," Ash stated, "she gets this funny little smile and acts all weird; she's hiding something tonight, I can tell."

"Aren't secrets meant to be exactly that?" Gary remarked ponderingly, still not looking up. "You know, _secret_!"

"So do you know what it is?" Ash baited, unable to reel in his curiosity.

"Maybe," Gary replied nonchalantly, downing the freshly poured drink in one gulp.

"Come on Gary!" Ash whined, stopping himself before he did a petulant foot-stomp, "What's going on?"

Gary shook his head, taking a tiny portion of food from a nearby tray. "Can't say Ashy," he swallowed his mouthful, "so stop asking. Now, I'm off to rescue my girlfriend from my sisters' evil clutches before dinner starts." With that, he disappeared into the crowd and out of sight.

Ash was about to turn back himself when a round of applause sounded through the crowd, indicating that the couple of the hour had arrived. Ash watched his mother, on the arm of the man who had become like a father to him, descend the beautiful marble staircase leading to the outdoor area, both with huge smiles on their faces. Delia had a hand over her mouth but appeared to be laughing, stunned by the beautiful outdoor setting. Strings of fairy lights were woven throughout the bannister of the stairs and hung across the yard, casting a soft glow on the garden, making the large scale outdoor party feel warm and intimate. He husband pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek and whispered something in her ear before they moved to walk through the crowd of people, stopping intermittently to talk to various guests, before taking their seats at the long dining table set up in the yard for the evening.

Instead of moving to take his seat with the rest of the guests, Ash watched from his place as over a dozen servers made their way out, walking slowly down the stairs so as to not trip, all carrying two dinner plates full of food each over to the table. Ash couldn't help but be somewhat shocked by this display; he knew the Oak family was exceedingly wealthy, but they never made a point to show it off, or spend gratuitous amounts on things that would ordinarily be deemed unnecessary. This night, the night of Samuel and Delia Oaks' first wedding anniversary, they had pulled out all the stops; it was to be a night of extravagance and elegance the likes of which had never been seen.

From the corner of his eye, Ash could see Gary and Misty, deep in conversation with someone he didn't know, make their way over to the table. Gary pulled the chair out for Misty and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head as she sat before taking the seat beside her. Another look was passed between them, Misty with a meaningful smile, Gary with a wink. Even with everyone he had ever journeyed with around him, his entire past summed up with a yard full of people, Ash couldn't bring himself to pay attention to any them. _Just what the hell is going on with those two?_

Inching his way closer to the table, he took notice of the various place cards at each seat. Finding his name among the cards he took his seat. The Professor and Delia sat at the head of the table, Ash sat to his mothers' right, next to Misty. He tried to subtly lean slightly into Misty who was still speaking to Gary in a hushed whisper, but couldn't make out anything of what they were saying. He leaned over the table to see Brock seated at Gary's side. He shot Brock a questioning glance to which he shrugged and shook his head.

The tinkling of a knife tapping a wine glass gathered everyone's rapt attention as the Professor stood from his chair, readying himself to give a speech. Ash broke his concentration on Misty and Gary and turned his own attentions to the head of the table.

"A year ago today, I married a remarkable woman," Samuel Oak began, resting his hand on Delia's shoulder as she beamed happily, "It took fifteen years of acquaintance with Delia to muster up the courage to ask her to dinner, and another two to ask her to marry me, and I have never looked back.

"At my age, I never expected to find love again; I suspect that's why I beat around the bush for so long. The advice I have to offer you tonight is to take chances, expect the unexpected and be brave; you never know when new, exciting opportunities are going to come your way, whether it be in love, life or something far simpler. Seize the day and take what you want with both hands!

"A toast to taking chances, my beautiful wife, a wonderful first year of marriage and many, many more years to come. Cheers!"

The sound of glasses clinking together and a chorus of 'cheers' rung out around the table as the guests raised their glasses in celebration. Dozens of pairs of hands outstretched over the table, reaching out to collect various accompaniments to their meal. Ash uncharacteristically waited for the rush of hands to lessen before digging in. He found himself tuning out the noises around him, very aware of everyone around the table; there were a number of guests, likely members of the scientific community the Oaks' were so influential in, that were sitting stiffly in their chairs, clearly not used to spending so much time in the company and in such close proximity to such young guests, Brock was hitting on a woman Ash could only assume was a colleague of the Professor, Dawn was eyeing Gary almost predatorily, his Hoenn travelling companions May and Max Maple were behaving in typical sibling fashion though May's eyes strayed to him more times than he felt comfortable noticing, he had no idea when his Unova companions Cilan and Iris started seeing each other but that much was clear enough to see as they fawned over each other, Gary's sister and her husband were trying in vain to reel in their young son who had ducked under the table to crawl around everyone's feet as their toddler wriggled in his fathers' lap, and Misty and Gary were simply behaving as usual, still sharing secretive smiles that were driving Ash borderline insane.

Ash finally tuned back into the conversation around him, only just realising that he had simply been sitting there, staring into space for almost a minute. He picked up his knife and fork and pulled his plate closer to him, thinking of a way to bring the conversation to a point where Misty and Gary would be compelled to spill whatever secret they were carrying, wondering whether perhaps he had gone completely and totally insane.

"What are your plans Ash?" the Professor asked, jerking him out of his thoughts, "Have you earned all eight Hoenn badges yet?"

"Yeah, I've got them all," he replied, poking around the fillet of fish on his plate, "but the actual Evergrande Tournament doesn't start for another two months so I don't have to go back until then."

"You'll win it Ash," said Brock with a grin from his place further down, "We're all going to be cheering for you, and you've proven already that you really are worthy of being the next Master."

"Don't get ahead of me just yet!" Ash exclaimed, "I still have another two leagues to blast through before anyone can call me that!"

"Brock's right though," Misty spoke up, softly smiling at her oldest friend, "I might have always called you a wannabe, but you'll be a Master yet Ash, just you wait and see."

He couldn't resist reaching an arm around her shoulders to pull her towards him in a half-hug, "Thank you Misty."

"Anytime Ash," she replied, leaning into him slightly and patting him on the shoulder before pulling back.

"What about you Gary?" the Professor asked as he chewed a carrot, "Your work with the Mantyke is over, do you have any more research to continue with?"

Gary shook his head. "Nothing right now, I might give it a bit of a rest for the time being."

"If you're looking, I may have a new project that might interest you."

Misty and Gary grinned at each other and nodded slightly, lacing their fingers under the table before turning back to the sets of curious eyes trained on them.

"It's funny you should mention that…"

_**To be continued…**_

**XXXXXXXXXX**

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**AN: **And there we have it! Flick on over to the 'next chapter' to find an open letter to all you lovely readers so I can properly give my thanks, and we can chat more about this potential sequel I have planned! And as per usual, a review would be much appreciated :)


	24. End Notes and Acknowledgments

Wow…I just finished my first ever multi-chaptered fanfic! For my awesome, dedicated readers, reviewers and everyone in between, I write a quick, open letter…

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I'd like to thank **xSHMIDx**, **Okiri** **Maelstrom** and **Charityx**, three users (makes you sound like drug addicts, doesn't it?) that all helped in some way at some point in the story. Without the encouragement of you three at the respective times you were helping me I probably would have thrown in the towel and deleted this story much earlier, so thank you! In many regards you guys deserve just as much credit for the story as I do. Virtual hugs, cookies, puppies and whatever else floats your boats for all of you!

A massive thank you to everyone who had this story on their favourites/alerts while I was still updating! Fellow authors will agree with me that you get a happy little buzz when you see that someone has added your story to their lists! To me, being added to your favourites is a frickin' massive compliment!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Without my consistent reviewers (you lovelies know who you are!) and even those who offered small words of praise on occasion this likely would have been a very different story! All reviewers are awesome, and rest assured every author cherishes every single review they get. I am encouraging you all now, if you read a story you like, leave a review, even if it's just a few words. To know people out there are appreciating your stories is a fantastic feeling!

And lastly, thank you to everyone who silently read this story! At the end of the day, I wrote this to be read, and to know that it has been makes me unreasonably happy. I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

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**About this sequel I****'ve been**** mentioning…**There is a sequel planned for this story. I'm not too sure where it's going to go and it is for the moment still in the preliminary planning stages. It's not out of the realm of possibility that it might simply become a series of loosely connected one-shots that tie back into 'STSS' a la **nyislandergirl****'****s** 'Family Matters', but I'd love to know your thoughts on the matter first. I am completely open to suggestions you may have for the new story since inspiration at the moment is hard to come by, so if there is anything in particular you'd like to see happen drop me a line and let me know. Might be fun to make the story interactive! I don't know when I'll start it, I'm a pretty hardcore crafter in my spare time, but lately all my spare time has been taken up by this story, so I've fallen behind with my sewing and crochet commitments. I shouldn't be much longer than a month or two, but we'll see. Add me to your author alerts or keep this story on alert so you'll be able to see when the new story is up. I also have a few other one shots and much shorter stories in the pipeline, so keep an eye out for those too.

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While we're here, might as well do a few plugs too!

'**Hunt'** by Charityx: An epic, action-packed piece of Egoshipping! I've mentioned it a few times and I'm mentioning it again! Go read it NOW of you haven't already and leave Charityx lots of complimentary reviews!

'**Game' **by Branmuffinpower: Featuring a Gary Oak as smarmy and arrogant as we all know and love him, and an interesting twist on the AshxMistyxGary triangle! A brilliantly written Egoshipping offering I couldn't recommend highly enough!

'**I Hate**** Weddings' **by xblueflowerx: A funny and so far rather cute little egoshipping offering where Misty and Gary pretend to be a couple for the sake of appearances at Brock's wedding. It's still rather early on in the story but go give it a look and follow it.

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I would also like to say that over the next few weeks I'll be going through and editing this story, and possibly rewriting a couple of chapters I'm not too happy with. I won't change anything that will change the course of the storyline, just a bit of prettying up and such, so if down the line you come back to this story and it looks different, that's because it is!

And purely because I want to show you just how different this story potentially could have been, I give you…

**INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT 'SWEEPING THE SENSATIONAL SET'!**

-The original outline for this story had it lasting only about 10-12 chapters. Looking back over the notes now it would have been a shit-boring story had I stuck to this original plan.

-Tracey was never intended to be such a bastard, he was meant to be a neutral party who kinda pined for Misty, but vouched for her happiness. It became pretty clear that more conflict in the story was needed, and in all honesty Tracey was a convenient character to turn since there was potential for it to happen anyway. I 'redeemed' him mostly because I thought keeping him pissed would be too much of a loose end.

-Ash, Brock and Gary's sister were not in the original draft, but Misty's sisters were. Even when introduced I never meant for Ash and Brock to stick around for so long, but I did grow to rather love May Oak! Misty's sisters will most likely make an appearance in whatever sequel I end up planning.

-The Team Rocket chapter wasn't in the original draft. Hell, I never intended for Team Rocket to make an appearance. The story needed a little action, and I needed a plausible reason to introduce another character and bring Gary back to Pallet. Oh, and I felt terrible when I as good as killed Meowth off!

-The whole 'Set' concept was originally intended to play a much larger role, but I couldn't get away with it without Gary looking like the biggest asshole in history.

-For a long time I toyed with the idea of having Gary and Misty get engaged/marry and/or have a baby but it simply didn't fit to the story. The plot only leant itself to their coming together, nothing more. Again, it might get a look-in when the sequel comes around, but I make no promises. I also thought about an Eldershipping baby until I realised that that was a stupid idea!

-As you might be able to tell by now, I deviated from my original notes quite a bit! The only plot point I was sure of, right from the outset, was killing off Marina.

-The hardest part of this story was not the lemon, not Gary's angst, not Misty being heartbroken for a solid portion of it, not the battles and Pokemon usage (though you'd be forgiven for thinking so!) but keeping myself from writing 'oh God', especially during the lemon. I don't know why I slipped into 'oh Arceus' but when I did I couldn't go back!

-When Marina died, Gary was originally intended to stay with Misty the whole time afterwards, the pair would 'bond' over the shared experience of losing loved ones blah blah blah and that's where the story would have wrapped.

-The final part of the last chapter, where Misty and Gary are on the beach…I lost count of the amount of times I wrote and rewrote that part. Originally Gary wasn't even meant to be there. I also wrote a version of it where instead of going to the beach she went to see Brock instead, but in the end I feel it worked better and wrapped up more conclusively with Gary there. Really I just couldn't think of another way to end it. Maybe if I think of something new I'll rewrite the end part.


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